Recipe and images courtesy of Nourishing Amelia, Award Winning Blogger

If you’re looking for an extravagant, show-stopping recipe to make this Easter (or any other time of the year!) then look no further than this Caramel Pecan Carrot Cake complete with creamy vanilla frosting and a sweet, sticky date caramel sauce. This recipe may be very lavish and definitely indulgent it’s actually a free-from recipe as it contains no dairy, no eggs, no gluten and it’s refined sugar free too! The ingredients in this recipe are all natural and most of them can be found in a Grape Tree store near you. So, what are you waiting for? Get baking!

Ingredients Cake (2 layers)

  • 350g ground almonds
  • 200g buckwheat flour or brown rice flour
  • 250g grated carrot
  • 4 tbsp linseed (flaxseed) mixed with 10 tbsp water
  • 8 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
  • 220ml almond milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 10 pecans

Vanilla Frosting

  • 200g cashews – soaked in water overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 30ml almond milk

Caramel Sauce

  • 6 medjool dates
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Mix the ?axseed and water together, leave for 10 minutes to thicken up.
3. Combine the ground almonds, buckwheat ?our, cinnamon and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the grated carrot to the bowl, followed by the maple syrup, melted coconut oil, now thickened ?axseed mixture and lemon juice. Mix well.
5. Slowly pour in the almond milk, mixing as you do so.
6. Stir in the baking powder and a pinch of salt. Combine everything together well.
7. Great two cake tins (I used 7 inch ones) then pour the mixture evenly between the two.
8. Place into the oven for 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven! Make sure to check on the cakes after about 20 minutes to ensure they’re not burning.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you make the frosting and caramel sauce.
10. To make the frosting, simply drain and rinse the soaked cashews and add to a food processor with the maple syrup, vanilla extract and almond milk. Blend together until smooth and creamy! 11. For the date caramel sauce, pit the dates and allow to soak in warm water for 10 minutes. Add the softened dates to a blender along with all the other ingredients. Blend into a sticky caramel! You will need to give this mixture a couple of stirs to ensure it blends properly. 12. Remove the cakes from the cake tins and ice the top of one cake with the cashew frosting. Place the other cake on top of it so they’re sandwich together. Spread the remaining frosting on the top layer of the cake. Finish by drizzled with the caramel sauce and added pecans around the outside.