You may have noticed that recently I have been utterly hopeless about posting in Gullifer Eats. This may or may not be due to the fact that I now have a full time job as cafe manager at Catesbys in Cambridge, (shameless advertising), and also possibly because I was producing an opera… slightly over-stretching myself!
It is only fitting that I chose to celebrate the end of producing this opera with some baking: how else would you expect me to celebrate? As is probably evident from this blog, I always relish a challenge. I have lived up to the challenge set by Stornaway (who as mentioned in previous posts is gluten free). However a second friend has upped the ante by not only being allergic to gluten, but also dairy. You have to be extremely imaginative when it comes to creating both GF and DF food. It seems to me very unfair that most offerings in restaurants and cafés for those who suffer from these allergies are boring and altogether far too healthy for my liking. So I set out to make a cake that still tastes delicious and bad for you, whilst also being GF and DF. In fact the biggest compliment I got from this recipe was from a GF friend, who had clearly been starved of baked goods for too long, and excitedly proclaimed that it tasted ‘just like real cake’.

260g light brown sugar
260ml vegetable oil
Large pinch sea salt
Dash of vanilla extract
5 eggs
260g gluten free self raising flour
500g pack of carrots, grated
100g raisins
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Whisk the eggs, vanilla, salt and sugar together for 3-5mins.
2. Add carrots, raisins and spices and mix. Add bicarbonate of soda.
3. Mix in the flour.
4. Pour into two lined sandwich tins.
5. Bake at 180ºC for 30-35mins, or until just set. Be careful not to over-cook, as it will cook a little in the tin as it cools.
6. When cool, sandwich the two halves together with icing made mixing 200g icing sugar with 2-4tbsp orange juice.
7. Drizzle with more orange icing and/ or icing made with 200g icing sugar, 2-4tbsp water and a few drops of raspberry extract.