I love carrot cake. Well, I love most cake as it goes, but carrot cake is particularly moist and tasty. I’ve made this gluten free version using rice flour, almonds and one of my all time favourite juices ~ carrot / apple and ginger.
If you’re making a breakfast or lunch juice, add an extra carrot and apple to the juicer so that you can keep a little to one side to include in this recipe.
I mostly use manuka honey as my preferred sweetener, but coconom make this awesome turmeric and tamarind infused coconut sugar which adds a delicious, spiced flavour to the cake. It’s not the only thing they do, check them out here Turmeric has some amazing healing properties & I love the colour and flavour this infused cocosugar adds to the cake. If you’re feeling a little less adventurous … regular cocosugar or cocosugar + ginger both work well too.
INGREDIENTS
200g rice flour
3 eggs
150g ground almonds
100g coconom sugar (turmeric and tamarind infused)
1 grated carrot
1 juiced carrot apple and chunk of ginger
200g raisins
large handful of sunflower seeds
Heaped teaspoon of baking powder
Sprinkling of cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
FROSTING
1 cup of cashews (soak for 2-3 hours before using)
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
Juice of half a lemon
50ml of honey (more if you like it sweet)
75ml coconut oil (melted)
Grated carrot and mixed nuts to decorate
Whisk the eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the almonds, rice flour, coco sugar and baking powder. Gradually add the juiced carrot, apple and ginger and continue to whisk. The quantity of juice you’ll get depends a little on your juicer. You’re aiming to get the cake mixture to a thick consistency. Pourable but far from runny, so don’t add all the juice if the mixture reaches that point before you’ve poured it all in.
Add the sunflower seeds, raisins and grated carrots and stir them through the cake mixture until everything is well combined. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more juiced carrot.
Grease a cake tin with coconut oil and pour the mixture in. Bake for 1 hour at 160C. Once the hour is up, leave the cake in and switch the oven off. This allows it to continue baking gently. The fruit and almonds mean the cake won’t rise a great deal but don’t worry, there should be plenty of cake mix to ensure a deep cake without it needing to increase in size. This is going to be a super juicy, warm spiced cake.
I love this creamy cashew frosting. Loaded with nutrient-rich raw cashews, it adds an awesome source of vitamin K, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and copper to the recipe. The addition of coconut oil is essential. It will firm the icing up allowing it to set better when cooled, not to mention it’s incredible health benefits and those anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties contained within manuka honey.
Blitz all the frosting ingredients together, add a little water if the mix needs more liquid to blend well, then leave in the fridge to set for an hour. It should go firm due to the oil and will go firmer the longer you leave it. Use the flat side of a knife to spread it evenly over the cake. You can even slice the cake in two and sandwich a layer between each piece! I love to decorate with vibrant colours including grated carrot, pistachios, chopped mixed nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
My Goodness 