A few months ago, a friend shared a meme on Facebook”if kids quotes were star signs” The quote for Virgo was “Anyone can be a family, you just have to love each other and feed each other” from Leo, age 6 (originally from the Instagram Live From Snack Time). She and I both laughed at how apt that was for me, a Virgo. You see, because I am always feeding people. Any time you stop by, there will at a very minimum be fresh bread and homemade jam, but if I have any notice of your arrival, there will be more. Cake, brownies or scones if its between meals or breakfast, lunch or dinner if the time roughly coincides. I simply can’t help myself. I always joke that you know you are a good friend if I choose to bake for you, rather than clean my house, but more and more, I just cook.

That ethos extends to the events we run. We always consistently over cater and nothing sends me into a spin like the thought that someone might leave my house hungry. Of course, that means having a broad ranging repertoire with vegan, gluten free and other foods for people with allergies and intolerances. And while I don’t mind as such making “special” food for people, I would much rather make delicious food that “just happens to be vegan/allergen free/gluten free”

This carrot cake is one of our main staples for gluten free baking. In fact, it is one of our favourite cakes hands down as it has the rich, spicy moistness of our favourite carrot cake, but without the cloying sweetness of the traditional cream cheese frosted variety. I have made it so often, I have memorised the recipe and can easily whip it out from memory for an after school snack.

Almond, Carrot and Marmalade Cake:

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated

200g dark brown sugar

240g ground almonds

1 teaspoon bicarb (baking soda)

250g grated carrots

1 Tablespoon marmalade

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/360F. Butter and line an 8inch/20cm spring form pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until they become light and frothy.

3. Add the carrots, almonds, spices, marmalade and bicarb and mix thoroughly

4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks

5. Fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter.

6. pour into your prepared springform pan. Top with slivered almonds, if desired.

7. Bake for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. You may need to cover the top with foil to stop it from browning too much on top.