Almond Coconut Carrot Cake Recipe

Carrot cake is surely be one of the nation's favourite teatime treats, and we've got a fabulously simple recipe for you to try out. It's gluten-free but still very moist and super delicious. The recipe hasn't been created to specifically replace wheat, rather to celebrate and use other tasty and healthy ingredients that make this cake taste better than a wheat based cake and dare we say, much more healthy too.

The icing of this cake is made with a lovely cream cheese base which adds an extra rich flavour to every bite. Cheese lovers will never eat icing/frosting in any other way.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3 eggs
• 180 ml mild olive oil
• 250g coarsely grated carrots
• 100g fine brown caster sugar
• 2 heaped dessert spoons of Greek yoghurt
• 65g ground almonds
• 65g ground oats
• 65g fine cornmeal
• 65g desiccated coconut
• 1tsp baking powder
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Icing

• 50g unsalted butter – room temp
• 350g Cream Cheese
• grated zest of 1 clementine/small orange
2 dessert spoons icing sugar

Method

What I love most about this cake is that you do not need any fancy baking equipment, and there is very little to do. You can get one of these babies in the oven in 15 minutes. No need for creaming the sugar and butter and getting sore arms from beating the mixture.

First lightly grease, with a splash of olive oil, a 20cm/8” cake tin, Line the base with greaseproof paper. I tend to favour the tins that you can unclip or have a loose bottom, such as KitchenCraft Springform Cake Tin as they are easier to turn out once the cake is cooked.

Your next job is to peel and coarsely grate the carrots and set aside. Beat the three eggs in a small bowl and set them aside also. Then measure out all your dry ingredients and place them into a large mixing bowl, give them a good mix so all the flours and spices are nicely combined.

Now you have all the ingredients measured up, pour the beaten eggs, grated carrot, olive oil, and yoghurt into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly. Do not worry if it is lumpy, that is the grated carrot and once it is cooked it will all blend together seamlessly.

Place into a preheated oven for 45 minutes at 180C/160C fan, gas mark 4. Gently pierce with a skewer to check if it is cooked, if the skewer comes out clean from the centre of the sponge, then the cake is ready. Place on a cooling rack for an hour before you apply the icing.

Best baking deals on Amazon.co.uk

• Cake Decorating Kit
• Economical 7in1 Nonstick Silicone Baking Cake Pan Cookie Sheet Moulds Tray Set
• HAUSPROFI Measuring Cups and Spoons Set, 13 Pieces
• Aucma Stand Mixer, with 6.2 L Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
• Tala 3 Tier Non Stick Cake Cooling Tray
• Amazon Basics Silicone Baking Mat - 2-Piece Set
• Noah's Box 40+ Piece Ultimate Baking Equipment Set

How to make the icing.

You need to make sure that the butter has been removed from the fridge and left to reach room temperature, prior to making the icing, as the butter needs to be soft but not melted.

Combine the icing sugar, zest of the clementine, butter, and cream cheese. I like to use Philadelphia, but any brand will work. Mix everything together until smooth and creamy.

Spread the icing over your cake and smooth with a palette knife and be sure to ice the sides as well. You can decorate with some carrot shavings or chopped nuts. This can be kept in airtight wrapping in the fridge for 2-3 days.

See also: Almond, Coconut and Choc-Chip Cookie Recipe

Make it your own.

There are lots of optional extras that you can add to make this recipe to your own specs. You can add raisins, sultanas, chopped walnuts, or pecans to the cake mix. Or decorate with finely chopped nuts on the top. You can make the flavour spicier by adding some ground ginger or put the zest of an orange in. The combinations are endless, just use your favourite ingredients and enjoy.

See also: Simple Ways to Add Colour to Your Kitchen

Another way to make it your own is to use the same mixture and recipe but instead of making a traditional cake, try carrot cake muffins, carrot cake loaf, carrot cake cupcakes or carrot cake traybake.

Learn from the best!

We've also found a really nice deliciously spiced gluten-free carrot cake recipe from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, just perfect with a nice cup of tea. The recipe contains considerably more ingredients than this one but it looks great too.

If the Jamie Oliver cake doesn't hit the spot, have a look at the Mary Berry's carrot cake with walnut and cream cheese icing recipe from Love Food.

But wait, what if you're a vegan? We've got you covered. Have a look at this Easy Vegan Carrot Cake from Kate from The Vegan Space.