Moist carrot cake with coconut sugar

Moist carrot cake with coconut sugar, made with carrots, spelt flour, hazelnuts, apple purée and a cream cheese frosting.

At a glance

• Serves 8
• Prep time: 20 min
• Cooking time: 45 min
• Total time: 65 min
• Calories: 280 kcal per serving
• Protein: 7 g
• Fat: 12 g
• Carbs: 32 g

Ingredients

• 300 g carrots
• 200 g spelt flour
• 100 g hazelnuts
• 100 g unsweetened apple purée
• 3 eggs
• 80 g coconut oil
• 4 tbsp coconut sugar
• 200 g cream cheese
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar (for the topping)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Method

You’ll need: oven · loaf tin · chopping board · knife · grater

1. Preheat the oven to 175 °C (155 °C fan) and line the loaf tin with baking paper. Finely grate the carrots so the cake turns out moist.
2. Beat the eggs with the coconut sugar and melted coconut oil until creamy. Then stir in the apple purée.
3. Mix the spelt flour, ground hazelnuts, baking powder and cinnamon and fold everything into the egg mixture. Finally, work in the grated carrots evenly.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and bake the cake at 175 °C for 40–45 min, until golden brown. Then leave it to cool completely.
5. Stir the cream cheese with the coconut sugar into a smooth topping. Spread it over the cold cake.
6. Cut the carrot cake into slices and serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

Good to know

A carrot cake like this often looks plain, and that's exactly why it's so good. Lovely and moist, gently spiced and just right for cosy afternoons.

Swaps

Spelt flour → oat flour (also provides fibre; contains gluten unless labelled gluten-free) | hazelnuts → almonds (also provide vitamin E) | coconut oil → ghee (buttery flavour, heat-stable; contains milk) | cream cheese → Greek yoghurt (also provides protein)

Allergens

Contains egg, milk, tree nuts (hazelnuts) and gluten (spelt). Usually fine for children if the nuts and texture suit their age; in pregnancy, bake the cake right through and use pasteurised cream cheese.