Vegan Carrot Cake

 We had another first in our house on Eden's birthday yesterday: the first cake J has decorated! I was assembling the cake (as the icing is best done at the last minute) and a tired birthday girl decided she couldn't wait a moment longer for a feed. So J finished it off and did a lovely job - and Eden very happily ate all of her slice (no walnuts on her bit!) I thought I'd share this recipe for anybody else that needs a good vegan carrot cake in their life.


For the cake:
400g plain flour
200g ground almonds
350g sugar (I used half soft dark brown, half coconut)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
550ml plant milk (I used soya)
100g melted coconut oil
Zest and juice from one orange
100g sultanas
3 carrots, peeled and grated (roughly 250g)

For the icing:
150g Alpro Greek style yoghurt
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp cashew butter
Walnuts, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, grease and line two cake tins. In a small pan, gently melt the coconut oil. Meanwhile sift and combine the flour, ground almonds, sugar, bicarb, baking powder and spices in a large bowl. Then add the plant milk, coconut oil, orange juice, orange zest, sultanas and grated carrot. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, check the centre with a skewer to ensure it's cooked through. Allow to cool.

Around an hour before serving, make the icing. Melt the coconut oil in a small pan, mix well with the cashew butter, then add the vegan yoghurt and maple syrup. Once mixed well, I gave it a good whisk to try and fluff it up then put it in the fridge to set further. Then sandwich the cakes together using the mix just before serving, and decorate with walnuts if desired. Enjoy!