Dairy-Free, Egg-Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes

"These gently spiced carrot cupcakes are vegan and use common household ingredients, so they’re a perfect treat for anyone who is allergic or intolerant to eggs or dairy.

The sweet sponge has a slightly squidgy texture that’s really moreish. It’s all bound with mashed banana instead of eggs, and the recipe avoids dairy with vegetable margarine and soya milk. The frosting is flavoured with a pinch of cinnamon for a really delicious finish."

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and margarine together until creamy. Mash the banana and stir it into the bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir through, don’t worry if it looks curdled.

Sift in the flour, mixed spice and baking powder. Grate the carrots and stir into the mix. Divide the batter between 12 cupcake cases. These muffins don’t rise much, so you’re safe to fill the cases to approx. 1cm from the top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until just firm. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, sieve the icing sugar and cinnamon into a clean bowl and add the margarine and 1 tbsp of the soya milk. Beat together until you have a loose, pale icing. If you’ve used a soft tub-type margarine, you probably won’t need the rest of the soya milk, but if you are using the hard block, just add milk gradually until you reach the desired consistency.

Transfer into a piping back and put a swirl on to the top of each cupcake. If the kids prefer, then can just put a dollop of frosting on each cake with a spoon. It’ll still look yummy. Top each cake with a walnut half to finish.

For an extra special touch for parties and special occasions, you can put the cakes inside fresh cases. The double case effect looks really pretty, and works particularly well if the patterns are slightly contrasting.

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