So last week I made a delicious beet carrot cake. Don’t let yourself be turned away by the beet. The cake is delicious and kid, even picky kid, approved. A bit time intensive with the shredding of veggies, but SO worth it.

Originally, my stepmom made a version of this cake for my dad’s birthday, and we devoured half of it, there were 5 of us. It was originally a Dr. Fuhrman cake recipe, that she adapted for preferences, and then I made it and changed what she did. Here is the original recipe: Beet Carrot Cake | DrFuhrman.com

You have to be a member to get the original, but since mine only is a portion of the original, I am sharing here.

We had this as a dessert, but I also loved it for breakfast. Hearty and full of vegetables, and a lot like a fancy baked Oatmeal!

Ingredients:

THE CAKE:

• 2 cups Oat flour (I take rolled oats and grind them up in my blender)
• 1 tsp baking soda (if you can find a reduced sodium version, that would be best. Its shocking how much sodium is in there)
• 1/4 date sugar (I would prefer to use date paste, but I have not tested out a ratio)
• 1 cup pineapple, blended
• 1 banana, ripe, not green, mashed
• 1 cup apple sauce (I use plain unsweetened)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, (I used vanilla bean powder, its black, and its extra flavorful, but it can be a bit pricey to buy that first time)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (since I use my food processor for the recipe, I chop them in there instead of by hand)
• 2 cups shredded carrots, I would shred them at home and not the really thick pieces that come in the bag at the store.
• 1 cup shredded raw beet. I have used both red and golden beets. they both taste great. You either get a pink cake or an orangey yellow one.
• 1 cup shredded zucchini

THE TOPPING:

• 1 butternut squashed medium size, peeled, seeded, and diced.
• 1/2 cup date sugar. Again, I have plans to try using date paste
• 1 cup carrot juice. I have a small juicer and make my own, but if you are looking at the store, Trader Joes sells it, and I think you might be able to find it at Safeway or something similar. This will likely be the trickiest.
• 1/4 cup lemon juice, (fresh is best, usually one of those LARGE lemons, or 2-3 small ones)
• 2 tsp lemon zest (ZEST THE LEMON BEFORE JUICING IT)
• The recipe calls for 1/4 tsp lemon extract, if you have it, great, but I don’t and its expensive, so I didn’t buy any and I just omitted this. You could add a small amount more lemon juice if you want. I didn’t need to.

MACADAMIA NUT CREAM:

• 1.33 cups raw unsalted macadamia nuts
• 1 cup soy milk, or nut milk of your choice. I would choose a nut milk
• 2/3 cup pitted dates.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grab a 9×13 pan.

1. Mix the oat flour and the baking soda in a bowl.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the date sugar, blended pineapple, mashed banana, and applesauce, together. Stir in the vanilla and mix thoroughly.
3. Add the flour mixture and nuts to your fruit mix.
4. Add the shredded carrots, beets, and zucchini and mix well. It will be thick and gloppy. Thats fine!
5. Spread it out as best as you can in the pan
6. Bake for about 50 minutes. It will still be soft when you take it out, but you want the top to look like it’s been baked, but don’t overbrown the top.
7. While this is baking, work on the butternut topping. Place the squash, date sugar, and carrot juice in a pot. I like having the tall edges to keep it all in and not on the stove :). Mix it all up, and simmer on medium for about 15 minutes. I stir it a few times and cover it. I check it with a fork at the end to make sure the pieces are softened. Don’t simmer until its goo but just fork tender.
8. Puree the squash mix, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Keep it warm until the cake it done.
9. Macadamia topping: in a Vitamix or blender, possibly a food processor, but I think a blender will do a better job, add all the items for the macadamia cream into the blender. You will put a dollop on each piece of the cake.
10. Once the cake is done, poke holes in the top, with a chopstick or straw. This isn’t necessary, but I think it make the butternut topping penetrate into the cake. Slather on the topping that you left warming. Eat now or keep it in the fridge and dole out! Dint forget the macadamia topping!

I would love to know if you try this out. Head over to my Facebook or Instagram and tag me or comment if so!