By  Trinity Bourne

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Cakes might be alluringly delicious, but they are typically full of all sorts of stuff that don’t really do our health any favours. So, I am on a bit of a mission to find some delicious alternatives created with healthy, nutritious ingredients, that work for people with most food allergies and sensitivities (dairy-free, wheat-free, gluten-free, no-egg, gmo free etc)…

A lot of people are sensitive to wheat, gluten or diary without even knowing it. Some foods can make people feel sluggish and experience one of a whole myriad of health problems; but then we have a tendency to carry on regardless and our ailments wind up running in the background as we turn a blind eye… Eating healthily involves quite a bit of forethought, effort and mastering the art of ‘letting go’, so it’s understandable why people aren’t leaping and bounding all over it.

I’ve eaten vegan for 20 years and rarely eat wheat or refined sugar, so I’m really blessed to have those bases covered already! However, I am always looking to expand my horizons and after going gluten free at the beginning of this year I started noticing that I felt amazing keeping it out of my diet. I am enjoying a whole new wave of inspiration of new tasty vegan and gluten-free stuff, like the delicious raw chocolate brownies that I shared earlier  (yum!!!).

Raw stuff is quite straight forward, although I’m finding it much more difficult to create baked goodies without gluten. You’ve really got to be open minded and throw out any ideas of how you think baking is supposed to happen, because gluten-free flour has a mind of its own! It comes out with a different texture and tends to crumble more (without all that gluey stuff to bind it all together). After a bit of tweaking, dancing and soul inspired creativity, I came up with a super healthy, tasty gluten-free carob cake iced with raw dates and  cashew frosting. And as a big bonus, we didn’t feel that usual stuffed ‘oh my god, I ate too much’ feeling after a really big slice.

We LOVED IT! And here it is…

Trinity’s Carob and Coconut Cake

Gluten Free, Vegan, No Refined Sugar

Serves: 8

Preparation: 20 minutes (plus icing soak time)

Baking time: Approx 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:-

• 100g rice flour
• 100g tapioca flour
• 1 tsp bicarb of soda
• ½  tsp cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons carob powder (or cocoa powder)

Wet ingredients:-

• 100ml apple juice concentrate (any sweetener, such as maple syrup, would work though)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 100ml coconut oil (usually comes solidified and has to be melted)
• 50 ml water
• 200ml coconut cream (I get this in a little tin or carton)
  
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
  

Topping:-

• Handful dates
• Handful cashews
• 150ml coconut cream
  
• Carob bar (for grating – optional)
  
• Dessicated coconut (for sprinkling- optional)
  

You will also need:-

• Two shallow round cake tins
• Parchment paper

Instructions:

1. An hour or two before making the cake, soak the topping ingredients. Chop the dates and place in a pan with the cashew and coconut cream. If the coconut cream has thickened (which happens if it gets too cold), then melt it gently in the pan until it’s runny (should take less than a minute). The idea is that the cashew and dates absorb the cream to make them softer and blendable later.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
3. Melt the coconut oil and then mix all wet ingredients together in a jug.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly before sharing evenly between two parchment lined cake tins.
5. Place in a preheated oven at gas mark 5 (375 °F/190 °C) and bake for approximately 25 minutes or so (bear in mind that every oven seems to have a mind of its own). Allow to cool before adding the icing.
6. Blend the topping ingredients together with a blender and when the cake has cooled down, sandwich them together with a good dollop of the creamy icing and then spread the remaining icing to cover the whole cake. You can decorate the cake with dessicated coconut and a bit of grated carob bar.

Alternatives:

• Make this a chocolate cake by using organic cocoa powder instead of carob.
• Sandwich it together with fruit spread or drizzle melted carob on top to be really fancy.

Don’t forget to let us  know how you get on!

From my heart to yours,
Trinity

More  articles by Trinity Bourne:

• Top Tips for Making Deliciously Healthy Salads
• No-Bake Carrot Cake Recipe (Gluten Free & Vegan)
• The Health Benefits of Beetroot – Recipes Included
• Chickpea & Mushroom Burger Recipe (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
• Global Animal Industries – the Ghosts in Our Machine
• All About Avocados – Health Benefits, Tips and Recipes
• Foraging Guide – with 12 Nutritious Wild Plants That Anyone Can Find
• Keeping Slugs & Snails Off Your Veggies – Compassionately
• The Benefits of Lemon Balm – a Must in Any Garden
• Chocolate Paradise Coconut Bar Recipe – Vegan, Raw, Absolutely Delicious!
• Rosemary’s Amazing Health Benefits

About the author:

Trinity is an experienced, empathic energy worker and the author of ‘Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen’, a recipe book designed to inspire the soul through conscious vegan, wheat-free cuisine.

Around 18 years ago, during a profound spiritual awakening, the world around her shattered. She became engulfed in a white, universal, timeless, formless light until nothing else existed – other than the nameless truth at the core of all sentient beings. During this life-changing experience Trinity experienced the soul of all other sentient beings, trees, creatures, people as one pulsating energy. Transcending her into a higher realm of unity and oneness, this experience imparted a divine energy that she has been sharing through spiritual work ever since.

Understanding that the energy of our food directly impacts sentient life on all levels, Trinity founded  Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen, a website devoted to inspiring the soul through conscious vegan cuisine.  She is the co-founder of the  Openhand Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the evolution of humankind. She works as the divine complement to her soul mate  Open  to help facilitate the global Ascension process and feels incredibly blessed to be of divine service.

For more conscious  recipe ideas, pick up  Trinity’s book  Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen.