Raw Ginger Carrot Dream Cakes

Carrots and I have not always gotten along.  The day I got my wisdom teeth pulled as a freshmen in college, when I was feeling all misreable and loopy from the meds and wasn't able to taste anything (due to the novacaine not wearing off for like 8 hours) my Mom decided to make a Moroccan carrot soup for me.  It seemed like a good idea, a smooth soup, easily eaten by a girl who couldn't chew...until I got to eating it and it tasted like mush.  Since I couldn't taste, I didn't enjoy it at all, and the carrot puree was just sort of disgusting to me at the time.  I couldn't eat carrots for a long time after that, and didn't really enjoy them for a few years...until I decided to be adventurous at one of my favorite restaurants and try the ginger carrot soup.  It was fabulous!  I soon decided that carrots and ginger were a match made in heaven!  

And so last weekend when I had a few carrots that needed to be eaten, and I wanted to use them in a dessert other than carrot cake (since I had just made it), I decided to pair them with warming ginger in a cheesecake.  Actually I ended up calling it a dream cake, it was so dreamy!  

As if it wasn't delicious enough to have a sweet, smooth luscious ginger carrot cheesecake, I decided that it needed a pistachio crust, some salted caramel, and some crispy sweet and salty carrot chips to top it off!  

It was so dreamy...I am glad I have a good relationship with carrots now that those memories of the wisdom teeth have faded!

Raw Ginger Carrot Dream Cakes
Makes four 4 inch cheesecakes

Crisp Sweet and Salty Carrots garnish (optional):
1 large carrot
agave nectar
fleur de sel

Crust:
1 1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
8 soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped

Filling:

2 3/4 cups raw cashews (preferably soaked overnight)

1/2 cup coconut water (or filtered water)

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

1/3 cup plus 3 Tbsp agave nectar

2 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract and seeds from half a vanilla bean (other half reserved for topping)

1 cup chopped organic carrot

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

caramel:
4 medjool dates
3 Tbsp almond butter
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp maple extract
1/8 tsp fleur de sel
1 1/2 Tbsp filtered water if needed

pistachios for garnish

To make optional carrot chip garnish, slice carrots very thin on the diagonal, and coat with a little agave nectar.  Place on trays in your food dehydrater and dry for about 8 hours, or until crisp.  Remove from the trays and sprinkle with a little fleur de sel.  Set aside. 

Lightly coat four 4 inch spring form removable bottom pans with coconut oil. To prepare the crust, process pistachios and sea salt in a food processor until the pecans are fine crumbs, then add the dates and process until the mixture holds together when squeezed between your fingers. Firmly press crust into the bottoms

of the prepared pans, and set aside.

To make the filling, drain the cashews and combine them with coconut water, lemon juice, agave nectar, ginger, sea salt, vanilla and carrots in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the oil to the food processor with the motor running and let process until well blended.  Remove the filling from the food processor, and press through a fine meshed strainer (if a smoother result is desired, but you can skip this step if you don't care). To assemble the cheesecake, pour the filling over the crusts, then place in the freezer until it is set, 4 to 6 hours, then once set store in the fridge.
To make caramel, combine all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth (add a little (1-2 Tbsp) water if necessary to make the caramel a pourable consistency). Drizzle a bit of the caramel over each cheesecake and top each with a few crisp carrot slices and some pistachios. Store leftover cake in the fridge.