Vegan and Gluten Free Carrot Cake Recipe

Vegan and Gluten Free Carrot Cake with frosting.

Ok, everyone loves Carrot Cake, according to everyone on Facebook, that is! It's not something that particularly appealed to me, however, I have tasted my own slice of carrot cake before the frosting and I must say that it is absolutely delicious, it is warm, spicy and moist. So if you love carrot cake, you will love this recipe!

I can't wait to try it with the frosting on top too!

The Cake

1/ Preheat the oven to 180°

2/ Line a 9" x 9" brownie tin with greaseproof paper and then grease it with vegetable oil.

3/ Put the following ingredients into a large jug and stir well:
1 cup of Essential Buckwheat Flour
1/2 a cup of Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain Flour
1/2 a cup of raw cane sugar
1/2 a cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 a teaspoon of Baking Powder
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon of Ginger powder.
4/ After mixing the dry ingredients together, add one cup of grated carrots and coat with the dry ingredients.

5/ Put the following wet ingredients into another jug and mix together:

1 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of apple puree
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
2 tablespoons of Biona Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother

5/ Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

6/ Pour the batter out into the greased and lined baking tray and pop into the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

7/ Take the cake out of the oven and cover with foil, then bake for another 10 minutes, or until a knife stuck into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

8/ Leave the cake to cool, with the foil taken off.

The Frosting

1/ Soak 2 cups of cashew nuts in hot water and leave for at least 2 hours

2/ After 2 hours or so, drain off the nuts and but them into your blender.

3/ Add the following ingredients to the nuts in the blender and then blend into a creamy paste:

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil

1/3 cup of agave nectar

Add as little water as possible, when necessary to help the processing along.

Spread the creamy mixture over your cooled down cake!

You'll probably need only about half of the actual mixture for frosting, depending on how thick you like it. The other half can be poured into cup cake cases and frozen, then melt a little chocolate, dab in the centre and stick a frozen cherry on top, then you have created another little vegan delight!

Creamy Vegan Cherry Bites