When baking for the office last month, I thought I’d accommodate the detoxers with this carrot cake.

I mean, it is still a sweet cake but containing nuts, tahini and pomegranate molasses it seems a lot healthier than a creamy Victoria sponge.

The list of ingredients is rather long for a carrot cake, but it is still a straightforward recipe. The spices makes it taste like any decent carrot cake, but the extra ingredients gives it a lot of depth. It just tastes more than your ordinary carrot cake.

I tried photographing it without a memory card (doh!) so no photo this time… 

Dan Lepard’s carrot, orange and pistachio cake, serves 10

Adapted from Dan Lepard’s recipe.

75 g tahini

125 ml sunflower oil

3 tbsp pomegranate syrup or treacle

zest of 3 oranges, and 100ml juice

225 g light soft brown sugar

3 large eggs, separated

200 g carrot, grated finely

100 g chopped pistachios

175 g plain flour

2½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp nutmeg

Butter a large round cake tin and line the base with a round of baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180C. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the tahini, oil, syrup, orange zest and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in one whole egg plus two yolks (reserving the whites) until combined, then stir in the grated carrot, pistachios and juice. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices together, then stir them through the mixture. Whisk the egg whites until white and fluffy, then fold through the mixture. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the tins, then cover with a simple icing made from icing sugar and a few drops lemon juice.