Healthy Carrot Cake

I LOVE Carrot Cake. It’s fair to say it’s my favourite type of cake and I often find myself staring longingly at the decadent versions I see at cafes. Despite this, I almost never order it, even if it’s gluten free, because I find the “store bought” versions are super sweet and likely also made with less than desirable oils that I would prefer to avoid.

That’s why I love this recipe, adapted from a Teresa Cutter recipe, it’s grain and gluten free and uses natural sweeteners instead of highly refined sugar but best of all it uses clean cooking oil (I used extra virgin olive oil for mine). It tastes so wholesome and nourishing you could almost eat it for breakfast.

I’m also a sucker for cream cheese frosting so I’m giving you some options here too. Enjoy.

INGREDIENTS
500 g grated carrots
3 organic eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
300 g almond meal
60 ml your choice of extra virgin olive oil or quality butter
160 g organic maple syrup or raw honey
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.
Combine carrot, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, almond meal, oil, honey, raisins and baking powder.
Mix well until combined.
Pour into a prepared 20 cm baking tin.
Bake for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until cooked through.
Cover if necessary with foil.
Remove from the oven and cool completely in the tin then turn out.
Serve alone or topped with your choice of frosting.
Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days – it freezes well too!

Topping suggestions:
Greek Style Yoghurt sweetened with honey or stevia
Coconut yoghurt – vanilla flavour is sweeter
I used Cream Cheese sweetened with honey and topped with organic whole walnuts