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Spiced Carrot & Orange Cake with Sweet Labneh Icing

This is a super moist cake that is packed full of goodness. It is almost a meal in its self as it is balanced with complex carbohydrate (whole grain flour and carrots), protein (eggs) and healthy fats (olive oil and walnuts). Sounds good enough to me to have a slice of carrot cake for lunch! The addition of dates and raisins allows the added sugar to be reduced so the cake is just sweet enough.
Servings 12
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup dates roughly chopped
  • 150 ml extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
  • 3 free-range eggs
  • 1/4 cup sugar or 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
  • 1 cup white flour gluten free use almond flour or GF flour mix
  • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 2 cups grated carrot
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Sweet Labneh Icing

  • 1 cup yogurt cheese or 250g cream cheese
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey
  • chopped pumpkin seeds and orange zest to garnish

Instructions

  • Preheat oven 170C. Line and grease a 22 cm round cake tin with coconut oil.
  • Place the dates in a jug and cover with boiling water, set aside to soften for 10 minutes.
  • Place the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a food processor and blend until creamy. Drain the dates thoroughly in a sieve and add to the egg mixture blending to break up the dates a little.
  • Combine the flours, baking powder and soda, and spices in a separate bowl and fold through the orange zest, carrot, walnuts and raisins. Make a well and pour in the wet mixture, fold together until just mixed. Pour into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on a cake rack before icing.
  • Make the icing, place the ingredients into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Spread on the top of the cooled cake. Garnish with chopped pumpkin seeds and orange zest and serve!

Notes

Variation: Make this into little cakes, simply spoon the cake batter into lined muffin trays and bake for 20-25 minutes.