Wholesome Carrot Cake

For a long time I worked in a cake shop - a shop that just happened to make an amazing carrot cake. As it happens, carrot cake is the one cake that will have me straying from my beloved chocolate cake, so I definitely ate my fair share of it over the years. Along with free cake, working in the shop also meant that I heard people use the line "well of course it's healthy - it has carrots in it!" more times than I can count. 

I mean, of course carrot cake has carrots in it, just like lemon drizzle cake contains a fair few lemons, but that doesn't make either one of them healthy, does it? Nope. The cake also contained vast amounts of oil, sugar and white flour; so while it was, without a doubt delicious, in no way was it healthy. 
I'll point out here that I do realise that these people were joking, but it did always make me wonder - why can't carrot cake be healthy? 

Packed full of real, wholesome ingredients this particular recipe is as near to a healthy carrot cake as you're gunna get (I've even snuck in a few courgettes for some added green goodness!) Free from refined sugar, dairy and wheat, as well as being vegan it's suitable for a range of diets. As well as only using a little good-for-you-coconut-oil, as opposed to the gallons of sunflower oil that is often used in carrot cake. It's a winner.

I've kept to traditional flavours, but if you like more/less/different spices then feel free to change it up! I like chopped up walnuts in my carrot cake, but I know lots of people don't, so omit these if they are not for you. The dates are in there for a little bit of extra sweetness and texture, but switch it up with sultanas/raisins etc or leave 'em. For me this carrot cake is near enough perfect so make it perfect for you too! I've made it as a 6" double layer cake but the same quantities will make 12 delicious muffins, which can be frosted or left without.

Ingredients:
For the Cake:
2 cups grated carrots (about 5-6)
2/3 cup grated courgettes (about 2-3)
2/3 cup GF flour
2/3 cup oat flour (about 1 cup GF oats ground to a flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (or can replace with unrefined cane sugar, adding in a little extra almond milk if the mixture is too thick)
1/4 cup honey/maple syrup
1 flax egg -1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water (or a real egg!)
1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped dates (optional)

To Frost:
I used 200g dairy free cream cheese, sweetened with a little honey/maple syrup and a dash of vanilla and lemon juice. A slightly healthier alternative would be to make coconut cream frosting and add in some lemon juice/zest to give it the sharpness it needs.

Extra walnuts + pumpkin seeds to decorate

To Make:

• Pre heat oven to 180C.
• Grease two 6" cake tins or line a muffin tray with 12 paper cases.
• Combine the almond milk, apple sauce, coconut oil, honey/syrup, orange zest flax egg and vanilla in a large bowl.
• Mix until thoroughly combined.
• Fold in the fours, baking powder and spices.
• Finally stir in the carrots, courgettes and chopped walnuts.
• Pour the mixture evenly into the cake tin or distribute evenly between the muffin cases.
• Bake in the pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes for a 6" cake or about 25-30 for muffins. Check with a skewer or tooth pick inserted in the middle and ensure the top is browned and springs back when touched gently. (I actually baked mine in just one 6" tin - sadly I only have one - so baked it for 40-45 minutes and cut it in half to make the two layers once it was cool.)
• Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the tin and then turn out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Frost and decorate as desired and store in the fridge for 2-3 days.