Carrot Cake with Marmalade & Cream Cheese

“I REALLY DON’T NEED BUNS OF STEEL. I’D BE HAPPY WITH BUNS OF CINNAMON.”

ELLEN DEGENERES

Serves 10

2 ½ cups almond meal

½ cup gluten-free flour

½ cup desiccated coconut

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground white pepper (optional) 300g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated ¾ cup finely chopped pecans

1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup light-flavoured olive oil

5 eggs

1¼ cup (100g) coconut sugar

2 cups flaked coconut, to decorate icing

MARMALADE

2 tbsp orange marmalade 1 tbsp orange blossom water 2 tbsp honey

CREAM CHEESE ICING

500g cream cheese, softened 100g unsalted butter, softened ⅔ cup icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Grease and line 3 x 20 cm (base measurement) cake tins with baking paper.

Place almond meal, flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Place the carrot, pecans, orange zest, vanilla and oil in a separate bowl and toss to coat in oil. Set aside.

Combine eggs and coconut sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk for 8 mintues or until tripled in volume. Add the flour and carrot mixture in three batches alternating between both and fold to combine.

Divide the cake batter between tins. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Set aside for 5 mintues to cool in the tin. Turn out onto a wire rack for it to cool completely.

Place marmalade, orange blossom water and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes, or until syrupy. Set aside to cool.

To make the cream cheese icing, place the cream cheese, butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat for 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the milk and beat for a further 1 minute, or until smooth.

Place the base of one of the cakes on a cake stand or plate, brush with marmalade and spread with a quarter of the icing. Repeat the process, finishing with spreading the remaining icing on the top and sides of the cake. Press coconut onto the icing and chill for 10 minutes in the fridge until icing firms.

BAKING TIP

Mixing almond meal with a little gluten-free flour helps give stability to the cake when it bakes, resulting in a lighter texture than using just almond meal.