Carrot and date cake with ricotta icing

1 Preheat oven to 170°C. Line base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.

2 Place carrots in a metal colander, then place colander over a saucepan of boiling water. Steam carrots for 5 minutes or until softened. Drain and mash until smooth. Set aside to cool.

3 Transfer carrot mash to a large mixing bowl. Add dates, eggs, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla extract, mixing well to combine.

4 In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add to carrot mixture, mixing well to combine. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes or until top is golden and knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and cool in tin for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

5 To make icing, process ricotta in a food processor for 1 minute or until smooth. Spread icing over cake, cut into slices and serve drizzled with date syrup.