I must admit I don’t have that much of a sweet tooth. It’s savoury things that get my tastebuds tingling. However with a glut of carrots eyeing me up from the vegetable rack and a frustrating day, I decided it was time to hit the kitchen and get my “bake on”. Cooking for me is one of my ways of relaxing.

I’ve never made a gluten free carrot cake, so this was a test of my brain cells, pulling apart a few other recipes and adapting things to make a healthier version. I’m all for cake, but I’m not into too much sugar or fat and prefer a moist, light texture. So I went for plenty of carrots and mixed up my flours for texture.

The result was suprisingly good (I really should expect more of my baking and not be so suprised). It’s light, it’s cakey, its moist, it cuts well, it holds together well, it’s tasty and it looks good, I really like the colour. You know what? I think I may be getting the hang of this 😉

If you like your cakes with icing and more sweetness then feel free to knock up a cream cheese frosting to go on this, I didn’t as that’s not my bag.

Recipe:

150g ground almonds

350 cornmeal

150g sugar

4 eggs

500g grated carrots

80ml rapeseed oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

• Mix the ground almonds, cormeal and sugar together. Then beat in the eggs and oil.

• Add the grated carrot and mix.  I then put this in my food processor so the carrot was broked down further.

• Add the vanilla extract, baking powder, cinnamon and mixed spice.
• Pour into a well greased and lined cake tin.
• Bake at Gas Mark 4 for 50-60 minutes.
• Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Next time I’d add some raisin into this and perhaps some chopped nuts.