Homegrown carrots are delicious. They have far more flavour than anything you can buy. Make the most of their natural sweetness with this dairy-free carrot cake recipe. It’s tasty, easy and a great thing to share with friends for morning coffee.
Please note: image shown above is for illustration purposes only.
Ingredients
- 175g light muscovado sugar
- 175ml sunflower oil
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 140g grated carrots (about 3 medium carrots)
- 100g plump raisins
- Grated zest of 1 large orange
- 175g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give the best flavour)
For the frosting
- 175g icing sugar
- 1½-2 tablespoons orange juice
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper.
- Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.
- Mix the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl with the other ingredients. Lightly mix all together, until even, fairly soft and almost runny.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack.
- Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and runny like single cream. Put the cake on a serving plate and boldly drizzle the icing back and forth in diagonal lines over the top, letting it drip down the sides.
