Winter Solstice Ginger, Nut & Date Cake with Orange Cashew Cream

Ingredients:

1/3 cup rice-bran oil

2/3 cup medjool dates

3 eggs

1 tablespoon date molasses (or maple syrup, or coconut syrup)

½ cup pale tahini

½ cup glutinous rice flour

½ cup brown rice flour

1+½  cups almonds

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 heaped teaspoons grated fresh ginger

140g of preserved stem ginger

4 tablespoons soy milk

Method:

Grind the nuts into a fine meal in a food processor. Sift the other dry ingredients and set aside.

In a high-speed blender, purée the dates, date molasses and eggs until light coloured. Add the oil in a thin stream and the soy milk and blend until combined.

Pour wet ingredients into a mixing bowl and then add the nut meal and the sifted dry ingredients - the rice flours, baking powder and ground ginger. Fold in the grated fresh ginger and the chopped stem-ginger.

Prepare a 25cm spring-form cake-tin by lining the base with baking paper and lightly greasing the sides before pouring in the cake mix.

Bake for 50 mins in 170°C oven, testing with a skewer to make sure it is cooked.

Allow cake to cool, before icing with Cashew-Coconut-Cream.

Cashew-Coconut-Cream:

Ingredients:
½ cup cashews, soaked for 4 hours and drained

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup orange juice

5 Medjool dates

½ tablespoon lecithin

Optional extra coconut syrup for sweetness

If you want a Chocolate-Jaffa icing, add 3 tablespoons Cacao powder and blend.

Method:
In a strong blender, grind the soaked drained cashews. Add the orange juice and orange zest, the dates and the lecithin and whiz until smooth. With the blender running, slowly drizzle the melted coconut oil until it is completely absorbed and the mix is smooth. Pour into a container and refrigerate for a few hours until firm. Apply to cake with a palate knife or piping bag and refrigerate cake until serving.