Healthy Carrot & Pineapple Cake with Orange-infused Frosting
4 July 2018
Healthy Carrot & Pineapple Cake with Orange-infused Frosting
My husband came back from town this weekend with two ENORMOUS pineapples from the market that he’d been unable to resist. He has a weak spot for fruit that’s good value but then I find myself wondering how on earth we can get through it all before it goes off- especially in summertime.
So I decided that carrot and pineapple would make a good cake combination and – as ever – my mission was to make it healthy. It’s had the taste test from 2 of my boys, and me… and a guest today (although she might have been being polite!). I The result is dense and moist with a tangy orange topping, and it’s gluten, dairy and refined sugar free as well as being vegan.
Ingredients for the cake
Wet ingredients
- 2 large carrot about 250-300g – grated or finely chopped in a food processor
- 50g raisins soaked and then drained
- 350g of pineapple crushed or blended
- 1 over-ripe banana - mashed
- 50g melted coconut oil
- 30ml of coconut nectar or maple syrup
Dry ingredients
- 150g buckwheat
- 100g ground almonds (possibly a bit more – see how it goes)
- 1 tbs baking powder
- Cinnamon – lots
- Nutmeg – not so much
For the frosting
- Fill a measuring jug with raw cashews up to the 400ml mark
- Juice and zest of 1 large orange
- 1 tbs of coconut nectar or maple syrup
- 1 tiny pinch of sea salt
To decorate
- Walnut halves
- Grated orange zest
Step 1
Mix together all the wet ingredients
Step 2
Fold all the dry ingredients into the wet mix
Step 3
Bake in a 20xm round cake tin greased with coconut oil for at least 1 hour at 180°C. The cake will still be sticky ion the middle – that’s OK. There’s a lot of fruit and veg in there!
To make the frosting
Step 1
Fill a measuring jug with raw cashews up to 400ml and cover in water, allowing them to soak overnight.
Step 2
Drain the cashews and place in a very powerful blender with the juice of the orange, half the orange zest, a tiny pinch of salt and a little water.
Step 3
Blend the mix and check the consistency. If it’s too thick for frosting, add a little water and blend again. You want to end up with a creamy, smooth frosting that can be spread over the cake
Step 4
Spread the frosting over the cake and top with walnuts and orange zest.
Keep the cake in the fridge or it will spoil, as it’s all natural with no added sugar.
