So I’ve recently had my wisdom teeth extracted. All I can say about that is OUCH and, thankfully, it’s all over now and I’ll never have to go through that again. As I was beginning to feel better I was tiring of mushy food so decided to make a cake. Even though I couldn’t open my mouth wide, small spoonfuls of cake were digestible without a whole lot of chewing. Plus, it meant I had something nice to serve visitors.
This cake is free from refined sugar, gluten and dairy. I’ve also added a food herb called Chinese wolfberry (gou qi zi) to the mix. You may know these little red fruits as goji berries. I got lazy with the icing so it is made with icing sugar and soy cream cheese but you could leave it off or substitute it with any of these dairy and refined-sugar free options if you want to skip the icing sugar: maple orange frosting, easy cream cheese frosting or cashew cream cheese frosting.
The cake was delicious and enjoyed by those who tried it. I can also vouch that is excellent served with Earl Grey tea.
Carrot cake & g0ji berry cake with dairy-free cream cheese frosting
Ingredients:
- 2 cups brown rice flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder added
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 cup of macadamia oil (or oil of your choice for baking)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 4 eggs
- 1 cups grated carrot
- 1/2 cup of soaked goji berries
- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 container of Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese
- 1/2 cup of non-dairy spread (eg. nuttelex)
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Walnuts or pecans, chopped, to decorate
Method:
- Preheat over to 160°C and grease a 23cm round tin, lining the bottom with paper.
- In a large bowl, sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and soda together. Make a well in centre.
- Whisk oil, maple syrup and eggs together until changes colour and is combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients gradually until mixed through.
- Add carrots, nuts and goji berries.
- Bake for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours or until golden and a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake. Allow to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning onto a cake rack.
- When the cake is cool, make frosting: blend tofutti and non-dairy spread until completely mixed through. Sift icing sugar into the cream cheese mix. Mix thoroughly. Add lemon juice and combine well. Spread frosting over the cake. Decorate with chopped nuts.
To book an appointment at the clinic or further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture). Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health.
