Made with sunflower oil instead of butter this dairy-free carrot cake will soon become a family favourite. Mashed banana as well as grated carrots help to keep the cake lovely and moist. It will keep for several days in a cake tin but it also freezes well. Freeze un-iced and then add the topping once it has defrosted. It’s a great cake for picnics, lunch boxes and parties and is always popular. If you’re baking for summer fetes or cake sales this will go down a treat and is really easy to make.
Ingredients
- 200g self-raising flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1tsp ground mixed spice
- 100g light muscovado
- 50g chopped walnuts plus extra to decorate
- 2 eggs
- 1 large or 2 small ripe bananas
- 100g coarsely grated carrots
- 100ml sunflower oil
- For the topping:
- 100g dairy-free spread
- 150g icing sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Fan 160°C/Gas Mark 4. Grease a 23cm square cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl.
Add the sugar, walnuts and eggs. Mash the bananas and add to the bowl with carrots and oil. Beat well with a wooden spoon until evenly mixed.
Pour into the cake tin, level the surface and bake for 40-50 mins until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 5 mins before turning out and cooling completely on a wire rack.
For the topping, beat together the dairy-free spread, icing sugar and vanilla extract until soft and smooth. If the mixture is too stiff add a little boiling water from the kettle and beat again until soft. Spread over the cake, sprinkle with chopped walnuts and cut into squares or fingers.
Top tip for making Dairy-free carrot cake
Omit the topping and serve the cake warm with dairy-free custard for pudding.
