Frosted Carrot and Orange Cake

This is a very moist and tasty orange and carrot cake that is sure to impress. Not only is it wheat and gluten free it is also dairy and lactose free too if you replace the traditional frosting with an icing drizzle.

Ingredients

175g gluten and wheat free self-raising flour
175g soft dark brown sugar
140g carrots - peeled and grated
3 large free range eggs - lightly beaten
100g raisins
Grated zest of 2 large oranges
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg
175ml sunflower oil
2 tablespoons of orange juice
200g soft cheese - frosting
50g butter - softened - frosting
85g icing sugar - sifted - frosting
A handful of chopped walnuts to decorate

Information

Serves: 15

Diet: Gluten and Wheat Free

Cuisine: British

Type: Treats

Method

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 45 mins

Heat oven to 180°C, to 160° Fan, 350 F, gas mark 4 and grease and line the sides and base of an 18cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl place the sugar, oil and eggs and lightly mix. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange zest and the 2 tbsp of orange juice.

In a separate bowl mix the gluten and wheat free flour, bicarbonate of soda, and the spices and then sift into the oil mixture. Lightly mix all the ingredients until combined. The mixture will be fairly loose, almost runny.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40 - 45 minutes until it feels springy when you press the centre.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. The cake can be frozen at this stage if required.

Once the cake has cooled, mix the icing sugar, soft cheese and butter together and beat until smooth with an electric whisk. Spread over the cake and decorate with the chopped walnuts (or you could use grated orange zest)

Place the cake on a serving plate and cut into squares. Stored in an airtight container the cake keeps well for several days.

For those looking for a dairy and lactose free cake, replace the traditional cheese frosting with this: 175g icing sugar, 1½ -2 tbsp of orange juice. Beat together the 2 ingredients and drizzle over the top of the cake and decorate with some chopped walnuts or finely grated orange zest.

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