Ever since trying this Carrot Cake at Sabrina Ghayour‘s Arabesque Supperclub, I have been meaning to make it at home. It took me a while to get round to it, but finally I made the cake last month, using almonds and pistachios I bought in Dubai (dried fruits and nuts are a must-buy there). It was immediately a hit at home!
I have a soft spot for carrot cake and I usually make it with layers of cream cheese frosting to soften the sponge. Sabrina’s cake doesn’t need any cream as it is already incredibly moist thanks to the ground almonds and desiccated coconut. They replace the flour of traditional recipes, which means this cake is also gluten-free!
Sabrina Ghayour is a chef, cookery teacher and writer who runs amazing Persian and Arabesque supper clubs in London, which I heartily recommend. Her first cookbook, Persiana, is coming out in June.

Ingredients
Recipe published by Sabrina Ghayour on Love Food.
- 200g ground almonds
- 100g dessicated coconut
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 200g caster sugar
- 2 tsp best quality vanilla extract
- 2 large carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
- 150g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 150g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 handful raisins
- icing sugar for decoration (optional)
- sliced pistachios for decoration (optional)

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 160ºC / 140ºC fan and line a 24cm spring cake tin with baking paper (enough to cover base and also sides). Don’t grease the tin as the oils from the nuts and butter from the mix prevent the cake sticking.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together. Then add the ground almonds, coconut, cinnamon and stir before adding in the butter and giving the ingredients a thorough mix.
Add the grated carrots, pistachios and raisins and mix again until all ingredients are evenly incorporated and then gently pour the mixture into your cake tin. Bake for one hour (checking after 40 minutes to ensure the cake is cooking evenly).
Allow the cake to cool overnight before cutting it (it comes out much moister this way). Decorate with sifted icing sugar and sliced pistachios before serving.
Store the cake on a plate covered with cling film or in an airtight container for a week.
[…] cake recipe by Sabrina Ghayour, found here […]
Hi Saian, I did a calorie count of all the ingredients and it comes up to about 318kcal for a small slice (I divided the whole cake into twelve slices). You wouldn’t need to eat a huge slice as this cake is quite dense and filling. Although the calorie intake is high, using raw unsalted nuts is a healthy source of energy.
Does anyone know how fattening it is?
That’s a genuinely beautiful cake – well decorated, without excess sugar. Fantastic! Just my sort of cake.