Recipe Wednesday - Carrot Cake Anyone?

Recipe Wednesday means I bring you a great recipe to consider for your collection.  My intention is to bring you delicious recipes featuring better food choices.  Let's face it, if it doesn't taste good, you won't eat it no matter how good it is for you.  Today's feature is Carrot Cake Balls, a no bake recipe.  Let's get ... well, in this case, NOT cookin'!  

Retrieved from http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/2012/03/raw-carrot-cake-balls-giveaway-upgrade.html

RAW Carrot Cake Balls (Dipped in RAW chocolate)

Grain Free/Gluten Free/Dairy Free/Vegan/RAW

Ingredients:

2 Large carrots, peeled (about 1/2 a pound)

1 large tart apple, peeled and cored

1 1/4 cups dried shredded coconut 

1/2 cup chopped up raisins or currants (chopping raisins can be sticky business)

3/4 cups finely chopped (with a few larger chunks) pecans or walnuts

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated ginger to taste)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of salt

*3 Tbls RAW honey (palm sugar or agave for vegan)

*3 Tbls RAW nut butter (almond, pecan, walnut, cashew)

Juice from half a lime

Raw cocoa nibs for decoration

*Note: Depending on your pulp, you may need to use more or less honey/nut butter to get the desired texture. Go by feel.

1/4 cup coconut oil

2 Tbls  raw honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

7 Tbls of raw cocoa (add another half Tbls for making a drizzle)

Directions:

Finely grate the carrots and apple, by hand or w/a food processor. Then press out as much juice as possible by using a fine sieve or strainer. Alternately, you can use a nut milk bag or cheese cloth to squeeze out the juice. Originally, I used my juicer for this recipe and they turned out pretty great. However, I have found that there is MUCH more flavor to the cake ball when I make the pulp by hand.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cocoa nibs to the carrot/apple pulp. Mix well.

Roll the dough into balls (about 1 Tbls worth of dough)

Chill the cake balls in the freezer for about 30 min.

While the cake balls are chilling prepare the chocolate...

Start with room temperature unrefined coconut oil (it's liquid point is around 76 degrees).  In a small bowl, combine the liquefied coconut oil, vanilla, honey and cocoa. Whisk together until the chocolate is well combined, with no lumps. I like to let the chocolate rest for about 15 min or so to let the cocoa absorb well into the oil. Depending on the size of your cake balls and the amount you end up with in the end, you may need to double the dipping chocolate recipe. This amount is usually enough for about one dozen 2 inch round cake balls. Be sure to let the excess drip off before removing from the skewer.

Using a wood skewer or dipping fork, dip the frozen cake balls into the chocolate. Let some of the chocolate drip off  than allow the chocolate to harden while you hold the stick (it will harden pretty fast), sprinkle a few cocoa nibs or nuts on the top of the cake ball before the top hardens. If you don't  take the time to let some of the chocolate drip off you may not have enough chocolate to finish all the cake balls. They still taste great with a thick coating, but you will have to make extra chocolate sauce. It takes some practice to make your chocolate go far. If practice isn't your thing just make extra chocolate sauce.

Tip: it's common for the chocolate to crack slightly as it hardens. This can be reduced if you leave some space at the bottom of the cake ball without chocolate. That is often where the crack starts. However, if a crack does happen, it is VERY easy to cover it up when you drizzle the chocolate over it later. So don't stress out about that. Can't have chocolate? Don't worry. Just roll the cakes balls in shredded dried coconut or crushed nuts before chilling them.

The dipping chocolate I use for these cake balls is made out of three simple ingredients: coconut oil, raw cocoa and raw honey (and maybe a splash of vanilla). This makes it not only completely raw, but full of good healthy fats and antioxidants, as well as being free of refined sugars. For vegan friendly sweeteners try raw coconut nectar, raw yacon syrup or raw agave.

Also, instead of using a 'juicer' to make the pulp for this recipe (as I did in the old version), I made the juice pulp by hand. The result was MUCH more flavorful with a wonderful texture to boot! However, if you do decide to use your juicer, I recommend  adding about 1/2 TBLS or so of the juice back into the pulp when making the cake balls. 

For the chocolate drizzle, make the same chocolate recipe as above, but add 1/2-1 Tbls more of raw cocoa. This will make it a bit thicker. Using a spoon or a 'candy making' squeeze bottle (get it at any craft store) drizzle the chocolate in thin lines over the cake ball.

Cake balls should be kept in the freezer for best results. Take them out about 5 min before serving. They should be fine for up to 15 min before starting to soften too much. At that point, the coconut oil will become liquid (at around 76 degrees) and the chocolate will begin to melt.

I have also kept them in the fridge, producing a much softer cake ball. They taste great this way, the only downside is they DO melt in your hand as well as in your mouth.

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