Makes: 1 x 23cm round cake
Equipment: 23cm round, deep, loose-bottom cake tin
DF - Dairy-Free
Ingredients:
215 ml extra virgin olive oil
250g coconut sugar
4 eggs, beaten
250g spelt flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp salt
125g pecans, coarsely chopped
500g carrots, grated
Vanilla cashew nut icing or Maple cream
cheese icing (see below)*:
Roughly chopped walnuts, for topping
Method:
Carrot Cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/Gas mark 5. Line a 23cm round, deep loose bottom cake tin with baking parchment.
2. In a bowl mix together the olive oil, sugar and eggs until well combined.
3. In a second bowl combine the flour and the other dry ingredients and make a well in the centre. Add the egg and oil mixture and
stir thoroughly until it is all blended. Finally, add the pecans and carrots and mix again.
4. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 1-hour 20-minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10–15 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack. Once it’s completely cool, top it with
either vanilla cashew nut icing or maple cream cheese icing.
Nutrition Note:
The olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats that are better for your heart than the saturated fats in butter.
Vanilla Cashew Nut Icing
"We have to get really creative when it comes to ‘icing’ our cakes as we don’t use icing sugar. This recipe is one of our go-to icing recipes, it’s really easy to make and absolutely delicious. The basic recipe is for a vanilla icing, but it can easily be adapted to different flavours – we particularly like to add matcha for a vibrant green colour!" - Modern Baker
Equipment: High-speed blender
GF, DF, V+
Ingredients
150g unsalted cashew nuts, soaked for At least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
300g full-fat coconut milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
75g maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g coconut oil, melted
Method:
Drain and rinse the soaked cashew nuts.
Put the nuts in a blender with all the other ingredients and blend until completely smooth and creamy.
Pour into a container and chill in the fridge until firm.
Tip: We usually leave the icing in the fridge overnight, but around 4-hour should do the trick.
Maple Cream Cheese Icing
"This is our take on classic cream cheese icing. It’s a lot less sweet and totally delicious."- Modern Baker
GF- Gluten-Free
Ingredients:
2 tbsp maple syrup
225g organic full-fat cream cheese, straight from the fridge.
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted.
Method:
1. Stir the maple syrup into the chilled cream cheese until completely combined.
2. Add the melted coconut oil and mix very quickly to prevent lumps from forming.
