Paleo Carrot Cake Recipe from NutShed

The amazing array of healthy treats available at NutShed

I don’t usually do guest posts but recently Evie from NutShed in Limerick’s Milk Market adapted my carrot cake recipe from Make Bake Love to make it super healthy and paleo friendy. Woohoo! She’s kindly shared her recipe below and I think it’s amazing. Follow Evie on Instagram and Twitter @NutShed_ for more beautiful inspiring recipes and pop into her gorgeous stall in The Milk Market!

Lilly x

A selection of the raw energy balls made by NutShed

My world has been all things NutShed for 1 1/2 years now and what a journey it has been!

I never once expected to find myself baking until 2am and trading from 6am at Limerick’s prestigious Milk Market, but every Saturday there I am, and loving every minute I get to engage with my wonderful customers.

I humbly began importing seriously high quality nuts, seeds and super foods and selling them to Country Choice, my dad’s food shop, where I was working at the time.

I started to see an immediate demand from our customers for really high quality wholefoods, so immediately I took to the books and immersed my self in as much knowledge as I could accumulate.

I spent weeks trawling online, reading case studies and articles, buying books and reading blogs and I was just overcome by my findings! I was hooked. The undeniable studies I encountered opened my eyes to the immense wellbeing and curable properties of some of these amazing wholefoods I had been importing. I have always been a serious eater and have dedicated my life to ensuring that food and health are so so deeply connected. I have a great respect for food and farming and all of this new learning just fuelled the existing spark in me to search further.

I decided to take my passion and products straight to the customers of the Limerick’s Milk Market and alas….NutShed was born!

I could see immediately how my customers loved chatting to me and learning  about the properties behind the product they had been eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. My customers could see the quality of my products over more conventional and more expensive ones that may be found in super markets and this always sparked conversation.

When chatting to my customers I was always made aware of their busy lifestyles and the struggles they encountered when trying to stay healthy on the go during the day. This made me think…. Maybe I could start using my recipes that I had accumulated over time (I have been baking since I was 8) and adapting them to the dietary needs of my busy customers. I began with vegan deserts, paleo cakes, raw energy balls & superfood porridge pots and I just couldn’t stock enough. It gave me great joy creating things in my kitchen each week to be met with smiles and warm words from my lovely customers, who were coming back each week to see what decadent treats I had taken on and made virtuous and wholesome.

My latest adaptation is of a much loved Carrot Cake recipe from Make Bake Love that I have been using for years. Made on an almond base with a rich cashew cheese icing, this tastes equally as decadent as the original and went down a treat with my customers this weekend.

If you’re not at the Milk Market, follow my makings on Instagram or Twitter @NutShed_

Evie

Paleo Carrot Cake from The NutShed

Paleo Carrot Cake from The NutShed 

170g Organic Agave Syrup

10g Deglet Dates, chopped

215ml Coconut Oil

3 Organic Eggs

1/2tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

300g Ground Almonds

2tsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Ground Cinnamon

3tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Bread Soda

300g Organic Carrots, grated

250g Organic Pineapple, chopped

50g Walnuts, chopped

Cashew Cheese Frosting

300g Raw Cashew Nuts, soaked for 4-8 hours

Juice of 2 Organic Lemons

4tbsp Coconut Oil

4tbsp Organic Agave Syrup

Method:

• Preheat oven at 170c and grease 2x20cm sandwich tins with coconut oil & line base with parchment.
• Beat the agave, coconut oil, eggs & vanilla extract.
• In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients & fold into the egg mixture.
• Fold in the chopped pineapple, walnuts and grated carrot.
• Pour the batter into the two tins and bake for 40mins.
• To make the icing: Put the soaked cashew nuts, coconut oil, agave & lemon juice into the food processor and turn on high. Add as much water as necessary, little by little, to get the desired consistency, but be patient as the process takes a few minutes.

To assemble:Place one cake on a serving plate and spread half the icing over the top. Top with the second cake as much icing as desired. Decorate with chopped pistachio & enjoy.