Gluten-Free Carrot and Courgette Cake

No matter what the time of year it's a truth universally acknowledged that carrot cake is always a good idea.

However, in order to complement a chilled glass of wine outside on a warm summer's evening, Lily Vanilli's version is utterly perfect.

The recipe below is from Sweet Tooth, and if you haven't already bought Vanilli's book, then I'd really recommend it!

Ingredients:

For the sponge
400g peeled and trimmed carrots and courgettes
90g sultanas
100ml orange juice (if you squeeze your own, add the finely grated zest of the fruit too)
6 eggs
300g caster sugar
250ml olive oil
500g blanched hazelnuts, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor (or alternatively use 500g ground almonds)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
60g sunflower and pumpkin seeds, plus extra for dusting

For the Cream Cheese Frosting
125g unsalted butter, softened
200g firm full-fat cream cheese, drained of any liquid
250g icing sugar, sifted
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C fan assisted/gas mark 6. Grate the carrots and courgettes and use kitchen paper to soak up all excess moisture. I completely underestimated how much moisture would come from the vegetables and paid for it with the finished cake, so keep patting them with the kitchen paper for longer than you initially think! Then transfer them into a bowl, add the sultanas and orange juice and leave to soak.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar until light and airy - for approximately 7 minutes. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream, beating just enough to incorporate completely.

Mix together the ground hazelnuts and the baking powder, and fold in with the orange zest (if using), spices and coconut.

Finally fold in the soaked carrots, courgettes and sultanas.

Followed by mixing in the seeds.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared cake tins and level out to the edges. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top has risen and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out crumby but clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This is where I struggled. I assume it's because I hadn't removed all the moisture from the carrots and courgettes at the beginning, but the cake stuck to the tin and the parchment paper refused to peal away neatly. As a result, removing the cake was a little bit of a disaster! If anyone can shed some more light on a possible explanation then I'd be grateful!

While the cake cools, make the frosting. Beat the butter alone for 4-5 minutes, then add the cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes.

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes until smooth and evenly incorporated.

You can add a further 50-100g of icing sugar for a firmer frosting if desired.

When the cake is cool, spread the base layer with cream cheese frosting and then sandwich it together with the other sponge.

To decorate, spread more frosting on the top and sprinkle with more sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

Make no mistake, it's a bit of a crumbly mess but tasted amazing! The addition of the sunflower and pumpkin seeds is inspired and adds a brilliant texture. My biggest problem, though, apart from the obvious structural issues, was that the inside was extremely moist - again a result of the poorly dried out vegetables at the start. This made it a little stodgy, but I know that if I make it again I'll take more care at the beginning and the end result will be a lot more crumby and more cake-like!

Is there something you like to bake that's perfect for warm summer evenings? Do let me know any recommendations and what you think of this Gluten-Free Carrot and Courgette Cake in the comments below!