Cakes, Breads and Muffins, Genuine Reads For Genuine People, Gluten-Free Recipes, Grain-Free Recipes, Real Food, Refined-Sugar-Free Recipes

Carrot Cake Success

Do you know what I love? Throwing stuff intuitively into the blender, whacking it in the oven (going for a run while it’s baking) and (still) getting a successful end product.

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Mamma bear had her birthday on Friday and went away for the weekend with my stepdad, but requested a carrot cake for her return. Yesterday morning I got up and got baking straight away.

I had another full day of yoga teacher training and wanted it ready for when I got home. I’m glad I did, we did 2 hours of meditation yesterday and I was yoga-stoned by the time I got home. It’s a miracle I didn’t crash on the drive home. I question whether it should be legal to drive under the influence of yoga.

This cake is grain and refined sugar free (honey-sweetened). If you swap the organic butter for coconut oil it is dairy free as well. Even though I left them out because mum’s not a fan, adding chopped walnuts would take the taste and texture to the next level and be VERY “cafe-style” indeed.

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Nourishing Carrot Cake

  • 3 carrots, washed and chopped into rough chunks (if you have a high speed blender there’s no need to peel, your blender will still pulverise it)
  • 90g organic butter, melted on the stovetop (or organic coconut oil for dairy free)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup cashew butter (homemade or store-bought – make sure the only ingredients are cashews!)
  • 1/4 cup banana flour
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • pinch of mixed spice (could use a combo of cinnamon and nutmeg instead)
  • 1/2 teaspoon aluminium-free bicarbonate soda
  • 1/3-1/2 cup raw honey (depending on how sweet your teeth are)
  • 1/2 cup sultanas (preferably organic and oil-free and without preservative 220 if you can find them)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (like I said, I didn’t use these because mum’s not a walnut girl – strange child that she is haha)

Icing

  • 1 cup cashew or macadamia butter (homemade or store-bought, again, be sure that ingredients are 100% nuts – no added sugar, table salt or hydrogenated oils)
  • 1-2 Tablespoons raw honey

Mix these two ingredients together with enough boiling water to form a spreadable “frosting” and use as you would regular icing.

Method

Chuck everything (liquids first; eggs, melted butter, raw honey, followed by dry ingredients) except the sultanas and walnuts into a high speed blender (I used my beloved Vitamix) and blend on high for about 40 seconds, pushing everything into the blades using the tamper. The mixture should be “whipped”, light and smooth.

Fold in sultanas and nuts and pour into a lined and greased cake pan (a smallish one is great as the cake will be higher – alternatively you could make as cupcakes and just bake for 10 minutes less). I used macadamia oil to grease the pan and then ‘if you care’ toxin-free baking paper for lining – it didn’t stick at all so I can anecdotally say this is a good combo for a “easily-slides-out-of-the-pan” type cake.

Bake in a 180 degrees C oven for 40 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Cool in pan for 1/2 hour before tipping onto a wire rack for further cooling. When completely cool, frost it with the icing and DIG IN!!!