The best carrot cake ever!

When I was a teenager, I had a job during the summer holidays at a small local whole foods cafe. It was simple but all freshly made; baked potatoes, salads, soups and cakes. I'm not sure if this was the start of my interest in healthy food but it certainly was the beginning of one of the loves of my life - carrot cake! Now, carrot cake is one of those 'pretend it's healthy' sweet treats. Even if you make it with wholemeal flour or all organic ingredients, it's packed full of sugar still, but hey, it's got carrots in it so it's got to be good for you! The carrot cake at the cafe was amazing - but it was a secret recipe and I just couldn't get the women who owned the cafe to share it with me.
After I left home and moved to London, my love of carrot cake reached a new level when I discovered the Cranks restaurant that used to be upstairs in Covent Garden, a dark and mysterious place that enticed you in with mouth watering aromas and served fabulous vegetarian food on beige hippy style natural pottery plates. They too had amazing carrot cake - and a cookery book. I still have that book, and its crumpled torn pages and broken spine mark it's over use. It even came out to India!

I have made this cake so many times over the years, and it never goes wrong. And what's even better, it's dairy free, so I can make my cake and still eat it! Butter cream or cream cheese frostings are out these days; just haven't found a reasonable replacement to date. I think it tastes better plain anyway.
I have made this with egg replacer instead of eggs to make it vegan and it still works well. I've not tried to make this gluten free so I can't say whether it would work - sorry! Try and grate your carrots a bit finer than mine - my food processor only seems to work on rustic size!

Carrot cake (Cranks recipe)
175g carrots
100g sugar - castor or unrefined
2 eggs (or equivalent in egg replacer)
75mls oil - I prefer canola but any type will do except olive oil
100g self raising (wholemeal) flour - or plain flour with baking powder if your in India and can't find any!!!
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
50g of raisins
50g of dessicated coconut (if you have it - not essential)

Heat the oven to 180oC and grease a smallish loaf tin. Grate your carrots.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until it's thick and creamy then whisk in the oil gradually until it's all combined. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until its all well mixed - it should be quick thick but still moist. Turn into the greased tin and bake for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and firm to the touch and a tooth pick comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out on to a rack until completely cold. Keeps well for a few days - if it lasts that long!! Enjoy.

Cranks don't have any restaurants in London anymore but the brand is still out there. Have a look at their website - they have a few of their recipes on line, including old favourites of ours lentil and tomato soup (or holiday soup as my kids call it, as I always made it when we went off in the car for a camping holiday) and homity pies. http://www.cranks.co.uk