A Healthier Carrot Cake (Gluten, Dairy & Sugar Free)

I love carrot cake it's my favorite cake, well to be honest i'm not really a 'cake' fan, I think it has something to do with a dry sponge phobia. But chocolate brownies (new sweet potato chocolate brownie recipe coming soon!, gluten,dairy and sugar free of course)and carrot cakes are my vices. So I thought why not make them healthy?

So here it is my 'healthy', deliciously moist carrot cake... and you won't even taste the difference! 

If you feel like a christmas treat use my cream cheese icing instead of the dairy free one.

one cake to serve 10

3 eggs

1-2 bananas

10-15 fresh dates (without seeds)

6 tbsp sunflower oil

1 cup spelt or buckwheat flour (both gluten free)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cardamom

3-4 carrots (medium size, grated)

½ cup coconut flakes

½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)

1/2 cup raisins

Dairy Free Icing (use my cream cheese icing for a treat)

- 1 ripe banana

- 1 avocado

- 3 tablespoons of maple syrup

- 6 medjool dates

- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

- 1 tablespoon of nut butter

- 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

- a handful of hazelnuts to sprinkle on the top

Cream Cheese Icing

200 g cream cheese

3 tbsp honey

1/2 lime (juice)

1/2 cup hazelnuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl. Use a hand blender or a blender to mix bananas, dates and oil into a thick cream in another bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom and stir it together with the eggs and the banana-cream. Add grated carrots, coconut flakes, walnuts and raisins and stir it until it all comes together.

Pour it into a cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Try to stick a toothpick in the centre of the cake, when nothing sticks on it the cake is ready. Let it cool.

Whip together the cream cheese and the honey (bananas or dates would probably also work as sweeteners for the frosting). Add the frosting when the cake is completely cooled of. Serve with roughly chopped hazelnuts or walnuts on the top.