Gluten Free: Carrot Cake

It's become distinctly autumnal all of a sudden, hasn't it? I'm still hoping for an Indian summer but I'm not holding my breath (I'd just turn purple). Three things happen when the weather gets cool; I  rescue my jumpers from the ironing pile storage, where they've been all summer; I dig out my slow cooker and I start using cinnamon in abundance.

Carrots and cinnamon, they're the culinary equivalent of Mel and Sue - they work together beautifully and make a great duo - just with a bit less of the "soggy bottom" innuendo. Apparently, carrot cake is the nation's favourite cake (according to a survey in the Radio Times last year) so it seemed right that I give it the gluten free treatment, with lashings of cinnamon.

You'll need:

• 200g carrots, grated (you don't really need to peel your carrots, just make sure they're scrubbed well - mud and cinnamon is not so tasty)
• 225ml rapeseed oil (or another mild tasting oil)
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 225g gluten free flour mix (I'm using Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour at the moment)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• a good grating of nutmeg
• 200g cream cheese
• 100g butter, softened
• 175g icing sugar, sieved to remove lumps

Make it!

• Put the carrots, oil, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a bowl and combine.
• Pour into a greased 20cm square tin and bake for 45-50 minutes at 180°C, until a skewer comes out of the centre clean. Leave for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
• When the cake is cool, beat the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar together until smooth. You might need to pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes to stiffen up (behave) a bit before spreading over your cake.
• Attempt to adorn with icing bunny until his legs fall off, abandon attempt and serve.

I reckon Alex's brown sugar cinnamon buttercream, from her Mary Margaret Blanchard Cake would be brilliant as an alternative to the cream cheese topping.