Carrot cake is a classic and well worth mastering for those who enjoy home baking.
Most recipes call upon rich brown sugar and icing sugar to craft a delectable flavour.
And while the result is undeniably good, this low-sugar alternative can be enjoyed guilt-free.
BBC Good Food describes it as “a sugar-free take on the traditional carrot cake”. The moist cake is topped with a zingy orange cream cheese frosting.
It’s easy to make, too, but you will need a few bowls as the one thing every good carrot cake relies on is keeping dry and wet ingredients separate until the very end.
Sugar-free carrot cake recipe
Ingredients
150g self-raising flour
100g ground almonds
50g raisins
50g walnut halves, roughly broken
Four tsp ground mixed spice
One tsp bicarbonate of soda
Three large free-range eggs
100ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
Three tbsp semi-skimmed milk
300g carrots, coarsely grated
For the frosting
150g full-fat cream cheese (soft cheese)
One medium orange, finely grated zest only
Method
A hot oven is crucial for a perfect cake, be it chocolate or a Victoria sponge. The same goes for this sugar-free carrot cake, so start by preheating the appliance to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Grease and line the base of a 20cm/8in springform cake tin with baking parchment to prevent the sponge from sticking while cooking.
For the batter, combine the flour, almonds, raisins, walnuts, mixed spice, and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Make a well in the centre before adding anything else to the mixture.
Add the egg mixture to the well in the dry ingredients, stirring to form a thick batter. When the cake mixture is ready, pour it into the prepared tin and spread it to the sides to ensure an even top.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes, or until the cake is well risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a while to avoid breaking the sponge when removing it from the tin. Take the cake out of the tin, carefully peel off the lining paper, and put it on a board or plate.
The frosting is very quick to make. Just add the soft cheese and orange zest to a mixing bowl and stir them together. Spread evenly over the cooled cake, then cut the finished sponge into small wedges to serve.
Alternatively, you can forgo the frosting and keep it plain. If you choose to do this, the carrot cake will keep in the fridge without the frosting for three days—just spread the frosting over the cake before serving.
