Carrot Cake

Ingredients

3 medium eggs
175g soft brown sugar/120ml agave syrup
175g plain flour (or a mix of wholegrain spelt & white)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
175ml sunflower oil
175g walnut pieces
2 ripe, medium bananas, mashed
175g grated carrot

Icing
75g butter, softened
75g cream cheese
150g icing sugar, sifted (or 100ml agave syrup or 50g xylitol)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chopped walnuts, to decorate

Or

Greek or Natural yoghurt on top, no icing or sugar!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3. Grease a 20cm-diameter cake tin with removable base.
2. Beat the eggs and the sugar/syrup together until thick. If you do use the syrup, the mix will be a lot wetter, but it still works! Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well then add the oil and walnuts, then the banana and carrot.
3. Pour into the tin. Bake for 1¼ hours or until a skewer comes out clean (with the banana in this it doesn’t really come out clean!) Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much. Cool on a rack.
4. For the icing, beat the butter and cheese together, then add the sugar and vanilla. Spread on the cold cake. Finish with chopped walnuts.