Good Monday my Steemian Fruit and Vegetable Lovers!

It has been quite a weekend for Mr. Bird and I! We are visiting our daughter in the Midwest to celebrate the upcoming birth of their first child. Such an exciting time! We made chocolates on Thursday and a fabulous Carrot Cake on Friday. I enjoy cooking with my daughters. Both are so creative in the kitchen and the thing I am happiest to know is that they both follow a very healthy diet. My youngest daughter (who is having the baby) is gluten, sugar and dairy intolerant. It was fun to plan the menu full of goodies she would enjoy!

Being part of the Fruits and Veggies community I wanted to share this delicious jewel as my entry for @lenasveganliving’s Fruits and Veggies Monday Contest! I am so thankful for this loving and supportive group of Steemians. Thank you @lenasveganliving, for hosting this contest! Week 34, wow!

Come along friends, as we bake a...

Luscious Carrot Cake with Creamy Cashew Icing

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5 chia eggs
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 3 cups grated fresh carrots
• 1 cup organic raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Chop the walnuts, Look at those delicious raisins!

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
Mix agave, chia eggs, coconut and maple syrup in larger bowl.

Add carrots, raisins, walnuts to wet ingredients. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. At this point my daughter was wondering if this would really turn into a cake! I said, just trust me!

Line 2 9” baking pans with parchment, oil sides of pans. Divide mix evenly between the two pans.

Press Carrot Cake mixture into pans.

Bake for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool. Make sure cake is thoroughly cooled before applying frosting!

Now let’s make the Icing!

Note: The night before you will want to soak 2 cups of cashews in filtered water.
Ingredients

• 2 cups raw Cashews
• 6 tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 3 teaspoons Organic Vanilla
• 3 teaspoons Lemon Juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• optional 2 tablespoons water

Preparation
Combine all ingredients except water in high powered blender. Blend until smooth. You may want to add water if necessary for blending..

The results, a creamy frosting with an ever-so-slight tart touch, thanks to the lemon! Yum! Now, place the icing in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This will thicken the icing beautifully! The icing will thicken to a perfect icing consistency.

Now, let’s put this sweet creation together!

Generously Ice the top of one layer. This will serve as the base layer. I like to sprinkle more chopped walnuts and raisins on this layer….never hurts right?

Lay the top layer on and ice use the remaining icing. Sprinkle a few walnuts on top.

And Voila!! We made chocolate baby decorations to place on the top of the cake!

Refrigerate the cake, remove about 1 hour prior to serving.

And at that point…it was time for a wee cat nap for the mother-to-be!

And yes, made with Daucus Carota, the carrot! The guests didn't know it was carrots, the mother-to-be certainly did and loved it!

I hope you will try this recipe! Not only is it delicious, it is healthy for you…imagine your family eating carrots for dessert! Thank you for stopping by.

And as always, blessings to you all