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Moist Carob and Date Cake

With texture of a steam sponge pudding when served warm
5 from 1 vote
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Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

Cake

  • 140 g spelt or wholewheat flour - I weighed spelt grain and ground it into fine flour
  • 2 eggs - I weighed them both to be a total of 130g in their shells
  • 5 dates, without stones, chopped finely
  • 270 ml water - just over 1 cup
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 3 tbsp carob powder
  • 210 g large sweet potato, grated finely
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1/8 tsp clove powder - I ground one clove with the grain into flour

Sauce

  • 2 tsp honey
  • 2 tbsp crème fraiche
  • 1 tbsp carob powder

Instructions
 

Cake

  • In a bowl whisk the eggs lightly. Add water, maple syrup and vanilla.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the finely grated sweet potato with the ghee, chopped dates and carob.
  • Combine the wet and the dry mixtures in one bowl. The consistency should be droopy. Add a little water if it is very dense.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F for a fan oven. 200 C / 400 F for conventional.
  • Using ghee, grease a baking dish. (I use a spring form pan.) Dust lightly with flour.
  • Pour the mixture into the pan.
  • Cook in the preheated oven without opening the door for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a metal skewer comes out clean.
    If you open the oven door during the cooking process, the cake will collapse when it cools.
    It is best to open the oven door and quickly pierce the cake with a skewer without taking it out of the oven. In this case, if it still needs cooking longer, it has less chance to collapse.
    Every oven is different. It took me 45 minutes in my oven.
  • Let the cake cool a little and serve by cutting it with a spatula - it is so soft.
    Serve it warm for a heart-warming steam pudding feel or at room temperature similar to a carrot cake.

Sauce

  • In a small ramekin, combine the three sauce ingredients. Pour over the cake slice.
    Make sure the cake isn't piping hot because honey should never be heated. It is OK to use the sauce over a warm cake, as long as it is not too hot to eat.

Notes

I love this cake without the sauce. For me it is sweet enough by itself, but the sauce elevates it to a celebration cake level for a special occasion.
Note that according to Ayurveda, ghee & honey should never be used in equal parts by weight because of their opposing qualities, which will create toxins. (According to Divya Alter, "e.g., 1 teaspoon honey plus 3 teaspoons ghee is toxic.")
There is 1 tbsp honey in the sauce and 2 tbsp ghee in the cake. It depends how much sauce you add.
Keyword carob, celebration cake, chocolate free, cocoa free, easy to digest, gluten free pancakes, natural sweetness, sponge cake, sugar free, sweet potato, sweet potato pie