Deliciously Ella’s Carrot Cake

I love carrot cake, it’s rich and comforting and in this recipe the burst of juicy raisins and the coconut sugar bring out the natural sweetness of the carrots. We use an icing made from cashew nuts, as we think they’re a great match for the flavours in the cake.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake
400g buckwheat flour (or plain flour)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g ground almonds
400g coconut sugar
3 medium carrots (about 250g), peeled and grated
100g raisins
600ml almond milk
100g coconut oil, melted

For the icing:
250g cashews, soaked overnight (or for at least 4 hours) then drained
7 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons almond milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (fan 180ºC). Line two 23cm cake tins with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, ground almonds and coconut sugar, stirring well to remove any lumps. Once combined, add the carrots, raisins, almond milk and coconut oil, and stir again until a batter has formed.

Pour the batter into the lined tins and bake for 35–40 minutes, until well risen and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean – if it doesn’t, place the tins back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Once ready, remove and leave the cakes to cool in their tins until room temperature, about 30 minutes.

While the cakes cool, make the icing. Place the drained cashews in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blitz until smooth, about 10–15 minutes – it should be thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to smooth over a cake. Add another splash of almond milk if it gets too thick.

Remove the cooled cakes from their tins. Spread half of the icing over one cake to make the cake’s filling then sandwich the two cakes together. Smooth the other half of the icing over the top, then scatter with the chopped walnuts, if using, and serve.
for the cake

Recipe extracted from Deliciously Ella The Plant-Based Cookbook, published by Yellow Kite, £25

Photography by Nassima Rothacker