Harvest Apple & Carrot Loaf Cake with Vanilla Bean Cashew Cream

This is the cake that I was dreaming about all last week.  I wanted so bad to make it, but it ended up taking a back seat to all of the farmer's market prep I was doing.  I even thought I could squeeze it in one evening but then I remembered I had to do a test round of some of the market recipes.  It sort of became the light at the end of the tunnel: something I could look forward to after all of the hard work and prep leading up to my first farmer's market.   

Since the market was quite successful, this cake inadvertently became a bit of a celebration cake.  I guess some part of me thought that it might end up being a disaster.  I thought perhaps nobody would want anything and all of my hard work would have to come home with me, burying me in a sea of granola, cookies, and hand pies.  And, I would emerge with a pain in my gut after having consumed half of said baked goods.  But, this didn't happen (thankfully)!  I sold out of almost everything, coming home with only 2 lonely packages of thumbprint cookies.  After resting up the remainder of Saturday, I began making plans for the delicious cake I had been dreaming about.  I couldn't be more pleased with the resulting cake, and dare I say it was everything I dreamt of.  Perhaps we can all share a virtual piece of this cake today, for whatever you may be enjoying or celebrating in your life :)      


Harvest Apple & Carrot Loaf Cake with Vanilla Bean Cashew Cream
notes: I shredded the apples this time around, but they ended up sort of disappearing into the batter.  Next time I make this, I'll most definitely use a heaping 1/2 cup of diced apple so that you get lovely little bits of apple in each bite.  If you use an all purpose gluten free flour blend, add in a 1/2 tbsp of ground flax seed to the wet ingredients to help with binding.  All of the measurements in ounces are by weight, not by volume.   

8 oz all purpose gluten free flour blend (or 8 oz of spelt flour)
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger)
8 oz nut milk (I used hazelnut milk)
4 oz unsweetened applesauce
4 oz warmed coconut oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 oz coconut sugar or sucanat
1/2 cup shredded carrot, squeezed to remove excess liquid
1/2 cup shredded apple, squeezed to remove excess liquid
chopped candied ginger to garnish (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a loaf pan (9x4) with parchment.  Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and spices and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a whisk), combine the milk, applesauce, coconut oil, vanilla, and sugar until smooth.  With the mixer running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients.  Once you have added all of the dry ingredients, add the shredded apple and carrot, stopping the mixer just after everything is combined.  Pour the batter into your lined pan and bake at for 55 minutes to 1 hour until the top is golden and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.  The top of the bread should spring back when touched.  Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Enjoy! 

Vanilla Bean Cashew Cream (adapted from here)
heaping 1/2 cup cashews, soaked at least 3 hours and rinsed
about 5 tbsp apple juice
4 to 5 pitted dried dates (depending on how sweet you want it)
seeds from 1/2 of a vanilla bean

Combine everything in a high speed blender or food processor and blend until thick and relatively smooth.

To assemble the cake, I spread several dollops of the cream over the top, then sprinkled a small handful of chopped candied ginger over the top of the cream.  I was able to get 10 hearty sized slices out of the cake.  The leftovers will keep stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days, or a week in the fridge.