Carrot and Walnut Cake ( with Vegan and Gluten - free options)

SERVES: 8–12. You can also use gluten free ingredients if you prefer.

Ingredients

8 oz self-raising flour (gluten free if desired)

2 tsp baking powder

4 oz light brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 oz walnuts, roughly chopped

8 oz carrots, roughly grated

4 fl oz maple or corn syrup

4 fl oz rapeseed oil

For the topping

I rarely bother with the topping, it’s perfectly nice as is, but here are quantities if you feel you really can’t do without it!

3 oz vegan cream cheese (Philadelphia do a good one,

though it can be hard to find)

1½ oz vegan and margarine

6 oz icing sugar

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C Fan. Grease an 18-cm/7-inch round,

loose-based cake tin and line with baking paper.

2 Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar,

cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts and mix well.

3 Stir the carrots into the dry ingredients, along with the syrup and oil,

and mix well.

4 Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top with a spatula and bake

for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out

clean.

5 Leave the cake in the tin to firm up for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire

rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat the cream cheese, margarine and icing sugar together until smooth. Spread it generously on the top of the cold cake, and decorate with chopped walnuts if you like. Leave to set before serving.