Carrot Cake with Cashew Frosting

My homeschooling mama friend Emily made this for when we went round to her house for a playdate, and I fell in love! It is beyond good. Emily has made it several times since, and so have I. Me being me I have of course edited the original recipe which came from the Unconventional Baker, and this is what I share with you today.

Gluten free, vegan and refined sugar free

Ingredients:

Cake:

• ½ cup brown teff flour 

• ½ cup arrowroot

• 6 tbsp white rice flour (I use Dove’s Farm - the white rice is best here as it helps the cake stick together)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp nutmeg

• 1 cup maple syrup

• ½ cup applesauce (you can use Biona organic apple sauce, but all I do is blend up raw apples in my Vitamix! - 2 small apples tends to make ½ cup)

• 1 tbsp lemon juice 

• 1 ½ cups coarsely grated carrots

• 1 cup unsulphured apricots, chopped

Frosting:

• ¾ cup cashews, presoaked to soften, then drained when used

• ⅙ cup non-dairy milk

• ⅛ cup maple syrup

• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• ½ tsp vanilla powder (or extract but preferably one without sugar added)

Toppings:

I use pecans and dark chocolate chocolate chips (sweetened with coconut sugar)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (Fan).

2. Mix all of the dry ingredients into a bowl .

3. Add the maple syrup, apple sauce and lemon juice and mix to combine.

4. Add in the grated carrots and chopped dried apricots and mix. The mixture will be quite wet, but don’t fear, this is how it is meant to be.

5. Place in a lined round sandwich tin and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until it is coming away at the sides, and the middle doesn’t stay indented when you press down (the cake is squidgy, so don’t expect it to bounce back like a sponge cake, but you don’t want a big indent when you press in the middle - it should be the same consistency as when you press on the edge of the cake).

6. Take out and cool.

7. Whilst the cake is cooking make the frosting, by placing all of the ingredients in a blender, and then transferring to a bowl in the fridge to become firmer (you can make this the day before to make it even firmer, but it is not necessary).

8. When the cake is cool and the frosting is firm enough to spread evenly, frost the cake and top with your chosen toppings.

Tag me @rochelle.a.hubbard on Instagram or Facebook if you make it! I’d love to see all of your bakes.