Lemon and Chia seed biscuits / cookies (dairy free, low/no gluten)


They say better late than never eh? well I do anyway, and that’s certainly the case with this post. As you’ll see from the shapes I cut these biscuits out in these were designed as Easter biscuits but with everything I had going on this weekend with my sponsored cycle I just didn’t manage to get this post up before Easter sunday! I don’t think it really matters though. These are a nice light, crispy, biscuit that is great for any occasion. The lemon and chia theme is running through from my last recipe (lemon and chia seed muffins) – I’m a huge fan of lemon flavoured bakes and I’m loving chia seeds right now so apologies for that! πŸ™‚

These biscuits are super easy to make and you can cut out any shapes you like. The dough can be a bit crumbly but it is just about manageable. This would be a good thing to try with the children over the holidays and they can have lots of fun decorating them. You can use any nut butter you like. If I’d had it I would have used almond I think as it works well with lemon, but the cashew is also pretty good – you get a hint of cashew but it doesn’t over power the lemon flavour and i complements the chia seeds nicely. These could be modifed with other flavours too – ginger, almond (using almond extract and butter), cinnamon – the world is your flavour oyster!

1 1/4 cups White spelt flour / gluten-free flour blend / Rice Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt
2/3 cup Cashew butter (or almond butter)
3/4 cup Coconut palm sugar / raw unrefined sugar
1/4 cup Almond milk, or other non dairy milk (soya milk, rice milk, coconut milk)
1 – 2 tsp Natural lemon extract
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup Chia seeds

If you are icing them – raw unrefined icing sugar and lemon juice

Preheat oven to 175 C. Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. Beat the cashew butter and sugar together until well combined (ideally use a hand beater, but if not then just stir a lot!). Beat in the milk until fluffy, followed by the chia seeds and lemon extract and zest. Stir in the dry mix with a spoon (or the beaters on a slow speed) until just combined. The dough will probably be quite crumbly. Gather it together with your hands and knead into a ball. At this point if the dough seems too dry then add a tablespoon of warm water. You don’t want the dough to be too moist, but it does need to be handleable. I found it best to leave the dough a bit crumbly and just roll out small amounts at a time. If your nut butter was very runny you may need to chill the dough before continuing. The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days if wrapped well so you can make this in advance if necessary.

Roll out the dough until it’s a few mm thick and then cut out using cutters of your choice. You will probably need to use a palette knife to carefully move the biscuits to a greased baking tray. Bake in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes. I like my biscuits very well done so I tend to leave them in as long as possible! πŸ™‚ They will be a bit soft when you remove them so allow them to cool for 5 mins on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Once cool mix up some icing – use enough lemon juice to create a pipeable paste and then use a piping bag to decorate the biscuits. If you don’t have a piping bag just use a small plastic sandwich bag – out the icing in to one corner then snip the end of the corner off and you can use it as a piping bag. Allow to set and then enjoy with a cup of tea!

Lemon Chia Muffins (dairy-free, gluten free)


I’ve got a bit of a busy weekend and my kitchen cupboards are woefully bare so I wanted to see what I could whip up that wouldn’t take long and used what I had left in the fridge and cupboard. These muffins are the result!Β  It’s been such lovely weather this week here that I was really in the mood for something light and refreshing and something lemony seemed to fit the bill. These muffins use courgette but don’t let that scare you – you really can’t taste the courgette. It gives them a lovely moistness though and quite a cool greenish hue! πŸ™‚ Chia seeds are my egg replacer of choice here – they work really well in muffins and they’re packed full of goodness so there’s an added bonus there. These take only a few minutes to make so are perfect for a busy saturday afternoon and would be great for a picnic.

200g Courgette (grated – you can peel it if you want but I don’t bother)

2 tbsp Chia seeds + 6 tbsp water

120g Unrefined golden caster sugar (you can substitute this for 100g honey/sweet freedom/agave)

Zest of 1 Lemon

150g Rice flour

50g Ground almonds

2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt

Golden icing sugar

a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Chia seeds for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Put the 2 tbsp of chia seeds and 6 tbsp water in a bowl, give them a good stir and leave to soak until the chia seeds have absorbed the water (this may take up to 10 mins and they will end up jelly-like). Put the sugar (or sugar substitute) in a bowl and add the soaked chia seeds and mix well. Add the lemon zest and grated courgette and mix with a fork. Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix well. If using sugar the mixture may be a bit dry, add 1 – 2 tbsp water if so. Spoon the mixture into muffin cases in a muffin tin (this should make approx 12 small muffins) and place in the oven for 30 – 40 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out pretty much clean.These muffins are quite moist so there may still be some mixture on the skewer. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing mix the golden icing sugar with a few drops of lemon juice (to taste) and water until a smooth paste is formed. Wait until the muffins are totally cool before icing, then ice and sprinkle with chia seeds. These muffins can be frozon before being iced and will last a few weeks in the freezer (just ensure they’re inside a plastic bag or container to prevent freezer burn!).

Enjoy! πŸ™‚

Almost “healthy” Sticky Toffee Pudding


Ah sticky toffee pudding, possibly one of my favourite childhood desserts! A classic school dinner pud that always brightened the coldest, wettest school day. I’ve not had a sticky toffee pudding for years though, so when my favourite vegan, Mel, suggested I have a go at making one this weekend I jumped at the chance.

This one’s perfect as a comfort pudding on a cold evening, served with some dairy free custard. It definitely needs to be served warm, and you definitely need the sauce with it – and lots of it! The pud itself is not over-sweet, if you’re looking for something sweeter you might want to use unrefined sugar instead of the agave. but once you pour the sauce over it I’m sure you’ll find it will satisy any sweet tooth.

As a nice twist you can soak the dates in rooibos tea and make an earl grey caramel sauce (I’ll explain below!). If you don’t have the rice and quinoa flour you can substitute it for an all purpose plain gluten free flour mix (you also need to leave out the xantham gum if you do this), or if you just want to make it low gluten you can use white spelt flour (and again, leave out the xantham gum).

1 1⁄4 cup Dates, pitted

3⁄4 cup Warm water or rooibos tea

1 tspΒ  Baking soda

1 cup Rice flour

1⁄4 cup Quinoa flour

1⁄2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1 3⁄4 tsp Baking powder

1⁄4 tsp Xantham gum

1⁄4 cup Coconut oil (melted)

1⁄3 cup Agave nectar or Sweet Freedom (or 1/2 cup Coconut palm sugar or unrefined raw sugar)

1 Tbsp Date syrup

1⁄2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 tbsp Ground linseed (flax seed) mixed with 1/2 cup water (or rooibos tea)

For the sauce:

1⁄2 cup Coconut oil

1⁄2 cup Coconut palm sugar or unrefined raw sugar (or Agave)

1⁄2 cup Coconut milk or Soya milk (infused with earl grey tea if you want – details below)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tbsp Cornflour or Arrowroot powder mixed in a small amount of cold water (to form a loose paste)

Preheat the oven to 175 C and grease 5 – 6 small ramekins. This recipe filled 5 of these mini loaf tins (which are brilliant by the way!) but you could use a larger tin and create one big pud!

Put the dates and water/tea in a small pan and simmer for 5 mins. Then let it sit for 15 mins until the dates are nice and soft. Meanwhile sieve all the dry ingredients (except the bicarbonate of soda) into a bowl. Put the coconut oil, agave, date syrup, vanilla and flax mix in another bowl and mix until well combined. Once the dates are soft add in the bicarobonate of soda and let it foam. Then lightly mash the dates before adding to the wet ingredients. Mix it all together and add in the dry ingredients and combine well. Pour into the greased tins. Place the tins in a bain-marie – I used a roasting tin with enough water in to go up to half the height of the load tins.

5 little puds in my version of a bain-marie just waiting to go in the oven

Bake for 30 – 40 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Keep an eye on the puds – if they start to get too brown on top then lightly place a sheet of tin foil over them to prevent burning. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack.

Now for the sauce! If you want to go for an earl grey (or any flavoured tea) sauce then you need to infuse the coconut or soya milk with the tea first. Put the milk in a small pan on the hob, add 1 tbsp of loose tea or 2 tea bags and gently warm it. Do not let it simmer or boil. Let is sit for a good 15 mins, then strain it for use.Β  To make the sauce melt the coconut oil in a small pan over a low heat. Whisk in the sugar, stirring continuously until it dissolves (approx 3 – 4 mins). You may find it won’t completely dissolve – don’t worry about this, it will still work. Ad the milk a little at a time. When you first add it it will spit and fiz and you’ll panic like I did and think you’ve mucked it up! Just stir quickly and then add the rest in one go, stirring all the time. You’ll find this will instantly create a smooth sauce.Β  At this point keep stirring to combine the oil (it does tend to want to separate out). If you like your sauce runny leave it as it is, but if you want something thicker then add the cornflour/arrowroot mix – stirring continuously whilst still on the heat. Stir until it thickens and then remove from the heat and pour into a jug for serving.

This pud NEEDS to be served warm so either eat it right away or re-heat it later πŸ™‚ Enjoy the stickiness! πŸ™‚

Pear and Almond Frangipane – Gluten and Dairy Free


I absolutely LOVE almond and whenever there’s a frangipane or almond tart on offer somewhere you can bet that that will be the cake I choose. So when I came across this awesome recipe I just had to try it! It’s from Isa’s website but I’ve modified it to make it gluten free and substituted the margarine for coconut oil which is much healthier and less processed. My tasters almost didn’t get any of this as I pretty much inhaled it as soon as it came out the oven!

For the pastry:

2/3 cup Ground Almonds
1 cup Rice Flour / Gluten Free Plain Flour Mix / Spelt Flour (for low gluten not gluten free option)
2 tbsp Coconut Palm Sugar / Unrefined Raw Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt (ideally Himalayan Rock Salt)
6 tbsp Olive Oil
3 – 4 tbsp Cold Almond Milk

For the frangipane:

6 tbsp Coconut Oil (don’t melt it)
2/3 cup Coconut Palm Sugar / Unrefined Raw Sugar
1 and 1/4 cup Ground Almonds
2 tbsp Cornflour
pinch salt
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2/3 cup Almond Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
4 Pears (I used conference pears as it’s what I had in my fridge!), peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat the oven to 175 C.

Start with the pastry. Put the ground almonds into a food processor with the flour and salt and pulse to combine. Keep pulsing and add in the olive oil gradually. Add 2 tablespoons of almond milk and keep pulsing. The mixture should hold together when pressed, if it doesn’t then add some more almond milk, pulsing all the time, until it does. At this point have a taste. If you want a sweeter pastry then add some more sugar until you get the desired flavour. Press it into a pie dish. This amount should do a 9 inch pan. Using a fork prick the base of the pastry shell and place in the oven for 15 minutes to blind bake.

Now for the frangipane (my favourite bit! πŸ™‚ ).Put the coconut oil, sugar, ground almonds, cornflour, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and pulse until well combined and all crumbly. Slowly add the almond milk, vanilla extract and almond extract whilst still pulsing the food processor until it forms a thick batter. Pour the batter into the pre-baked pastry shell. Peel and core the pears, slice them in half and then into thin slices (about a 1/4 of an inch thick). Lay the pear slices in the batter – overlap them and push them in so about 2/3 is under the batter and the top is sticking out (so you need to put them in at an angle if that makes sense!). Bake the tart for 40 – 45Β  minutes or until the top is golden brown, then move the tart onto a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.

warning - this is seriously addictive

Because I used coconut oil, not margarine, for the frangipane this came out as rather like a treacle tart in texture. Now I quite liked that but if you want something a little more cakey then you might want to use vegetable shortening instead. I’ve not tried it yet (though I will be!) but a more solid fat should help with that. Personally I love the flavour the coconut oil gives and I can cope with a nice sticky tart! πŸ™‚

Raw chocolate truffles! :)


As it’s valentine’s day I just had to give this recipe for raw chocolate truffles a try. I modified the recipe a bit – I subsituted the honey in the original recipe with Agave and because they tasted a bit sweet to me I added in a tablespoon of carob powder too. They’re not half bad for a healthy truffle and very easy to make!

a perfect post dinner treat

This will make loads! I cut the ingredients down by a third and it made 10 decent sized truffles, but I’ve put the original amounts here so you can decide for yourselves how many to make! πŸ™‚

3/4 cup Raw Cacao Powder

2 cups of Ground Almonds

1/2 cup Agave Syrup

3 tbsp Carob Powder

1 tbsp Coconut oil

Dessicated coconut for rolling

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. If the coconut oil is too solid you may need to soften it first in the microwave. Once combined roll into truffles and roll in dessicated coconut. They can be eaten immediately but are best if chilled first – either in the freezer or fridge for as long as you can wait! πŸ™‚

Love is in the air! and in my cake tin…


I am not a big valentine’s day person to be honest, at least not in it’s commercial form but as an excuse to make cute little heart shaped yummy things then I think it’s great! πŸ˜‰

Sooo I’ve been playing again and have come up with a few simple, tasty, low gluten, dairy free valentine’s treats! These are available in limited numbers to order, just drop me a line if you’d like some.

Ginger love hearts

spice up your valentine's day

1/3 cup Olive oil

3/4 cup unrefined raw sugar (golden raw caster sugar, coconut palm sugar, or dark raw cane sugar)

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup soya milk

1 cup amaranth flour / quinoa flour

1 cup gluten free flour mix (make your own or you can use an organic pre-mixed one. If you want low gluten not gluten free then go for spelt flour instead of the amaranth and gluten free flours)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 and 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt salt

This recipe will make about 50 small heart biscuits (2 – 3 cm) so you may want to halve it or even quarter it depending how many you want and how big your cutters are.

Whisk the oil and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the soya milk and the molasses and whisk all together. Sieve the flours, spices and baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda in to the wet ingredients and mix until it forms a dough. The dough may seem quite moist. You want it to be workable but not so sticky that you can’t lift it. Add a bit more flour if it is too wet. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge to chill for an hour (the dough can be left in the fridge for several days so you don’t have to use it all at once. It can also be frozen).

Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Roll the dough out on a floured surface. It’s worth trying small amounts of dough at a time and be generous with the flour. It will stick a bit but don’t worry. You want it to be rolled out fairly thin but not too thin – maybe 5mm thick or so. Use a small heart shaped cutter (I use a 2 – 3cm cutter) to cut out the biscuits and transfer to the baking tray. Bake for 8 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool on the tray for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. They will seem soft when they come out the oven but as they cool they harden. If you want super crispy biscuits just pop them back in the oven for another few minutes.

Give them to the one you love.. or just eat them all yourself!

(these are available in bags of 20 for Β£2.50 – contact me for more details)

Brownie love bites

chocolately loveliness!

165g Silken tofu

100g white spelt flour

65g Whole-wheat spelt flour

70g Cocoa powder

6 tbsp Water

8 tbsp Agave syrupΒ  AND 2 tbsp Date syrup

200g unrefined raw sugar/ coconut palm sugar

A handful of chopped pecans and dried cherries

2 tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp Ground brown linseed

1.5 tbsp Hot water

1/4 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

Mix the ground linseeds with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of hot water and set aside to thicken.Β  Preheat the oven to 180 CΒ  and then line an 8-inch x 8-inch x 2-inch baking tin with greaseproof paper and lightly oil.

Blend the tofu, water, agave syrup, date syrup, cocoa powder, linseed mixture, and vanilla extract until completely smooth. Place the remaining ingredients, except the pecans and cherries, in a mixing bowl and stir until they are well combined. Then pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir well. Finally, gently fold in the pecans and cherries.Β  Pour the mix into the tin and place in the oven for 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then cool on a wire rack. Whilst still warm use a small heart cutter (2 – 3 cm) to cut out heart shaped brownie bites. You should get 12 – 15 out of one tray of brownie (and you get to eat all the little off cuts!) πŸ™‚

Available in bags of 5 for Β£4

Chocolate orange cupcakes – full of gluten free dairy free chocolately love!

perfect to share

1 cup rice flour

3/4 cup raw unrefined sugar (coconut palm sugar, raw cane sugar etc)

1 cup soya milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp natural valencia orange extract (omit this if you don’t like orange flavour – could be replaced with 1/2 tsp almond extract, chocolate extract or more vanilla extract)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp himalayan rock salt

For the icing:

1/4Β  cup cocoa powder

1/4Β  Agave syrup

1 – 2 tbsps Unrefined golden icing sugar

Sugar hearts to decorate

Preheat oven to 175 C and line a muffin pan with muffin cases (this should make about 12).

Whisk together the soya milk and vinegar and leave to one side to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and any other extracts you’re using. Beat until foamy using a hand whisk (or you could use an electronic one if you’re feeling lazy!). Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add to the wet mixture a little at a time, stirring in between. Mix until smoothish (some lumps are ok). Taste it at this point and if necessary add more extract if needed. Pour into the muffin cases and place in the oven for 18 – 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. When done, remove and allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In the meantime you can make the icing. Put the cocoa and agave into a small saucepan and heat very very gently (this is important – do not over heat it!). Stir continuously until it is well combined. Add the icing sugar and stir well. Have a taste to check it’s sweet enough for you, if not add a bit more agave or icing sugar. The mix will be quite runny when warm but will harden when cool – it will never be completely hard (unless you add a lot of icing sugar!) so it will be a bit sticky – which I personally love! πŸ™‚

Once the cakes are cool you can apply the icing and then add some decorations – then enjoy!

These are available in boxes of 4 for Β£5.50

Go bananas! Two delicious banana bread recipes


So by special request I’ve had a go at banana bread this weekend. My first attempt was a dairy free, low gluten (spelt) banana bread and then I’ve also tried out my friend Colette’s mum’s recipe (modified to replace butter with oil and a few other little additions of my own) which does contain eggs (but these could be substituted out for apple puree). I’m not sure which I prefer. I’ve got so used to baking without eggs that I found the egg one a little odd to work with and I couldn’t work out if the batter was the right consistency or not. It actually came out fine and the texture is nice – a bit lighter and more bready than the dairy free version. The dairy free version is moist though and because I used wholemeal spelt flour it has a lovely nuttiness to it which I really like. So I thought I’d post both recipes and you can decide for yourself πŸ™‚Β  Either of these recipes could have nuts added to them – walnuts would work particularly well, and if you’re feeling naughty you could throw in some dark chocolate chunks too!

Fresh out the oven!

Dairy free Banana Bread:

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 cup coconut palm (or any unrefined) sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tbsps almond oil or olive oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup soya milk mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp himalayan rock salt

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line and grease a small loaf tin (approximately 8 inches x 4 inches).

Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix the oil and sugar together until well combined. Add the mashed bananas and the soya milk (to which vinegar has been added) and the vanilla extract. Add this mix to the flour mixture and stir well. Pour into the loaf tin and place in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Colette’s mum’s banana bread:

2 cups white spelt flour
1 cup coconut palm (or any unrefined) sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tbsps almond oil or olive oil
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking sodaΒ Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β  1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp himalayan rock salt

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line and grease a small loaf tin (approximately 8 inches x 4 inches).

In a large bowl mix the oil and sugar together until well combined, then add the mashed bananas and vanila extract. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt together.Β  Add half of this mix to the wet ingredients and mix well. Then add one egg and mix until combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture, stir well and add the final egg. Mix until well combined. Mix the bicarbonate of soda in 1/4 cup of hot water and stir in to the mixture. Pour into the loaf tin, sprinkle some unrefined coconut sugar over the top and place in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Perfect with a cup of tea πŸ™‚

Scrumptious Carrot Cake


Everyone loves carrot cake!

I’d been asked to make a “normal” carrot cake by my family so I decided to try to do the dirty on them and see if I could create a carrot cake that tasted like the full fat, full sugar, dairy-filled version but didn’t have any of that stuff in it. SoΒ  I came up with this dairy free, low gluten version using unrefined sugar and they didn’t even notice! In fact they said it was the best carrot cake they’d tasted – I almost didn’t have the heart to let them know it was a healthy version πŸ˜‰

The apple puree as an egg substitute keeps this cake super moist. You can buy the pureed apple but it’s so easy to make I wouldn’t bother – just peel, core and slice some bramley apples and whack them in the microwave with a spoonful of water and blitz until soft πŸ™‚ This recipe’s been featured on www.pureformfitnesskitchen.com πŸ™‚

sticky, moist and simply delicious πŸ™‚

175 g Coconut palm sugar (or other raw, unrefined sugar)

175 ml Almond oil (or other neutral oil e.g. olive oil, hazelnut oil etc)

9 tbsp of Apple puree – homemade

140 g grated Carrots

100 g Raisins

grated zest of 1 large Orange

175g Spelt flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp Ground cinnamon

Β½ tsp Grated nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

For the frosting:

1 cup Silken tofu

2 tbsp Almond oil/coconut oil/olive oil

2 tbsp Lemon juice (to taste)

3 – 4 tbsp Maple syrup or Agave nectar (to taste)

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Valencia orange extract (optional – to taste)

Preheat the oven to 160 C / gas 4. Line an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment and lightly oil with almond oil.

Put the sugar, oil and apple puree into a large mixing bowl and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange zest.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and spices into the bowl and gently mix all the ingredients together. The mixture will be fairly runny. Pour this into the tin and bake for 40 – 45 mins, until it feels firm and springs back when you press it in the middle, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 mins then turn it out and cool on a rack. This cake can be frozen at his point, or go on and frost it and eat it now!

For the frosting – blend all the ingredients together. Adjust maple syrup, lemon and orange extract to taste. If you find it is not sweet enough add 1 tbsp of unrefined golden icing sugar. Once blended spread on to the cooled cake and enjoy! πŸ™‚