Vegan & Gluten-Free Carrot Cake With Cashew Cream Icing

Autumn is baking, drinking tea, reading books and feeling cozy. Autumn is walks in the park and observing the fallen leaves. Autumn is the orange color and warming spices. Autumn is when I was born and when I thrive. Its beauty never stops amazing me! Autumn- the season of letting go and new hopes, new beginnings. What better time to get creative in the kitchen and experiment with new flavors? In this post I share with you my new recipe for a vegan & gluten-free one layer carrot cake with a cashew cream icing. If you are not a fan of carrot cakes, I can guarantee you that this is about change! Moist, sweet and bold in flavor, this cake is a deserved indulgence and a perfect partner to a cup of tee. Allow yourself a small treat. It is the fall season after all.

VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE CARROT CAKE WITH CASHEW CREAM ICING

VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE

YIELD: makes 8-10

INGREDIENTS:

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour mix

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Raw ground vanilla beans

Wet ingredients

• 180 ml melted coconut oil

• 4 chia "eggs" (1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water for one chia "egg")*

• 2 cups brown unrefined sugar

• 1/2 cup coconut milk (from a can)

• 3 grated carrots (around 3 cups)

For the icing

• 3 cups of cashews

• The juice of 1 orange

• 1/2 cup maple syrup

• 5 pitted Medjool dates

• 3/4 cup coconut milk (from a can)

• Raw ground vanilla beans

• Pinch of salt

Toppings

• Cashews

• Walnuts

• Dry edible flowers

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

2. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients apart from the carrots.

3. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together. Add the grated carrots and mix.

4. Pour the mixture into a springform pan (mine has a diameter of 24.5 cm). Make sure to line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the walls of the pan with a little bit of coconut oil.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 35 minutes.

6. Take the cake out of the oven. After 5-10 minutes remove the ring of the form and let the cake cool entirely.

7. Prepare the icing by simply blending all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender.

8. Once the cake has cooled, move it to a serving platter and top it with the icing.

9. Decorate with cashews, walnuts and dry edible flowers.

10. Let the cake sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. The colder, the tastier!

11. Serve and enjoy!

NOTES:

* To prepare the chia "egg" let 1 tbsp chia seeds soak in 3 tbsp water. Once the consistency is thick, it is ready to be used.

** If you find the icing too sweet for your taste, add some lemon juice to give it a bit of tartness.

Hope you enjoyed this recipe!

Sending you love,

Antoniya