Carrot & Pistachio Cake
Try our delicious Gluten Free Carrot Pistachio Cake, topped with a layer of creamy cheese frosting, the perfect afternoon snack.
Gluten Free · Dairy Free (Without Frosting)
Makes 1 12cm x 22cm loaf (rim measurements)
Ingredients
200g / 1⅓ cups Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour
165g / 1 heaped cup rapadura sugar
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons mixed spice
240g / 2⅔ cups finely grated carrot
2 eggs
180mls / ¾ cup rice bran oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
120g / 1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
80g / ⅔ cup raw pistachios
Frosting
40g / 2 tablespoons butter
150g / ⅔ cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
400g / 3⅔ cups icing sugar, sieved
30-40mls / up to 2 tablespoons carrot juice or puree (see note)
Extra 35g raw pistachios, chopped
Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Prepare a 12cm x 22cm loaf tin by lining it with baking paper.
Sieve the flour, bicarb soda, salt and mixed spice. Add the sugar and whisk to combine well.
In a high speed blender add the eggs, oil, vanilla and carrot chunks. Blitz until smooth. Add the pistachios and pulse a few times to roughly chop them, being careful to keep them in pieces. Pour into the flour mix and stir well. Add the grated carrot and stir through. Tip into prepared loaf pan and spread evenly.
Bake for 1 hour rotating it at 30 mins. A skewer will come out clean when cooked. Leave in tin for 10 minutes then lift out using the baking paper and cool completely on a rack.
Spread frosting generously over the top of the cooled loaf and scatter extra chopped pistachios on. Serve thickly sliced with your favourite cuppa! Once iced, store the Carrot Pistachio cake in an airtight container in the fridge.
Note
If no carrot juice available, blitz 4 x 2.5cm chunks of carrot with 2 tablespoons of water to form a puree and use this instead. Blitz before doing egg and oil mix.
Frosting
Beat the butter, cream cheese and lemon rind for 5 minutes until creamy. Add the icing sugar gradually and beat until smooth and no longer grainy. Add the carrot juice until all the frosting has a pale apricot tint. This can be covered and refrigerated until ready to use.