The current lockdown and food situation made me think of times we had to adapt a little with the way we cook and bake. Carrot cake is a great example of this, as carrots were used to sweeten baking when sugars and sweeteners were sparse or too expensive. So here we are. My version of carrot cake. It’s a little healthier as it’s refined sugar free. It also has no dairy and can be made gluten free if you use buckwheat flour. Despite this, and its slightly dreary beginnings, it’s delicious!
Serves: about 12 slices
Timing: about 15 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking, plus cooling time
Ingredients
Cake
200g coconut sugar/brown sugar
150g coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (you can leave this out, it just adds to the flavour)
150ml milk
2 carrots, grated (roughly 220g)
110g ground almonds
150g plain/buckwheat flour
50g brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
Pinch of salt
100g raisins
Icing
200g cashews soaked in cold water for at least 4 hours
5 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
50ml milk
100g ghee/almond butter
Methods
Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 190°c and line a cake tin (roughly 23cm in diameter and 6cm deep) with greaseproof paper.
2. Whisk the sugar and the eggs for a few minutes until the mixture becomes thick and batter like. Pour in the milk, melted coconut oil, blackstrap molasses and whisk again.
3. Stir in the grated carrot, then add in the ground almonds, plain or buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt. Whisk until everything is well combined, then fold through the raisins.
4. Pour into the greased baking tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Icing
1. While the cake is baking, make the icing.
2. Blend the cashews, maple syrup, vanilla and milk until completely smooth. If the blender is struggling to blend, add a splash more milk.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the ghee or almond butter until a little light and airy. Add in the cashew mix and whisk until well combined. (The ghee/almond butter should give the cashew mix a little more structure.)
4. Store in the fridge until ready to spread over the completely cooled cake. Enjoy!