So the plan was that I would make my Mom a birthday cake this year. There was just one problem. I wasn't going to be able to travel back home until the night before her birthday and there's no way I'd be able to surprise her on the day as she'd see me bake it. In the end I had to get a cake from the local supermarket and just about managed to hide it in the boot of the car. She probably knew all about it (Mom's always know everything) but she at least looked surprised when it was brought over to our table at the restaurant.
Since I hadn't made the birthday cake, I decided to make one of her favourites...Carrot Cake. There was still a bit of a challenge though as I can't eat anything with dairy products and my Mom can't have soya. Looking through our rather large collection of recipe books I found the answer, substitute the milk/butter with oil. It makes the cake a lot more moist and healthier (it serves 10 and works out at 299 calories per slice).
Now I always thought that I wouldn't like carrot cake because it had carrots in and as a child I decided that cake that had fruit or vegetables in, wasn't proper cake. However when I made this one, I figured I'd give it a shot and see what it tasted like. I absolutely love it! To the point where I will now order it when I'm out and about.
So here it is. The Great Carrot Cake :)
You will need:
3 Medium carrots (it ends up weighing around 250g)
3 Large eggs
100ml Sunflower oil, plus a little extra to grease the cake tin
100g Light brown sugar
200g Self-raising flour
100g Sulatanas
Finely grated zest of half a large orange, keep the other half to decorate the top of the cake later
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
Half tsp Ground nutmeg
1 and a half tsp Baking powder
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (170 for Fan, Gas 5) and grease a 23cm round cake tin. I tend to use a loose-based tin as it makes releasing the cake much easier. I also like to put a circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom as well.
2. Peel and grate the carrots using a medium/fine grater. Really you can make the carrot as fine as like, just depends on the fussy eaters in your family.
3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the sunflower oil and sugar. Whisk until well combined. Stir in the carrot and add the rest of the ingredients. It really is a a recipe where you can throw all the things in and mix so don't worry about adding the remaining ingredients in a particular order.
4. All that's left it to pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. When the time is up, check the cake is cooked with a metal skewer or knife. I have a multi-pronged meat fork (the type used to carve roast meat) that I find works really well as it means I can check the cake all the way across in one go. The cake can be taken out at this point, as it is cooked, but I like to put it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. This drys the cake out a little more as the oil and fruit makes it really moist and can give the impression of not being completely cooked. It's more out of preference that I leave it in than anything else.
5. Once out of the oven leave the cake on a wire rack to cool. To decorate, simply sift icing sugar and scatter the grated orange over the top. Now go and make yourself a nice cup of tea, cut a slice of cake and enjoy your day.
Since I hadn't made the birthday cake, I decided to make one of her favourites...Carrot Cake. There was still a bit of a challenge though as I can't eat anything with dairy products and my Mom can't have soya. Looking through our rather large collection of recipe books I found the answer, substitute the milk/butter with oil. It makes the cake a lot more moist and healthier (it serves 10 and works out at 299 calories per slice).
Now I always thought that I wouldn't like carrot cake because it had carrots in and as a child I decided that cake that had fruit or vegetables in, wasn't proper cake. However when I made this one, I figured I'd give it a shot and see what it tasted like. I absolutely love it! To the point where I will now order it when I'm out and about.
So here it is. The Great Carrot Cake :)
You will need:
3 Medium carrots (it ends up weighing around 250g)
3 Large eggs
100ml Sunflower oil, plus a little extra to grease the cake tin
100g Light brown sugar
200g Self-raising flour
100g Sulatanas
Finely grated zest of half a large orange, keep the other half to decorate the top of the cake later
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
Half tsp Ground nutmeg
1 and a half tsp Baking powder
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (170 for Fan, Gas 5) and grease a 23cm round cake tin. I tend to use a loose-based tin as it makes releasing the cake much easier. I also like to put a circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom as well.
2. Peel and grate the carrots using a medium/fine grater. Really you can make the carrot as fine as like, just depends on the fussy eaters in your family.
3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the sunflower oil and sugar. Whisk until well combined. Stir in the carrot and add the rest of the ingredients. It really is a a recipe where you can throw all the things in and mix so don't worry about adding the remaining ingredients in a particular order.
4. All that's left it to pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. When the time is up, check the cake is cooked with a metal skewer or knife. I have a multi-pronged meat fork (the type used to carve roast meat) that I find works really well as it means I can check the cake all the way across in one go. The cake can be taken out at this point, as it is cooked, but I like to put it back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. This drys the cake out a little more as the oil and fruit makes it really moist and can give the impression of not being completely cooked. It's more out of preference that I leave it in than anything else.
5. Once out of the oven leave the cake on a wire rack to cool. To decorate, simply sift icing sugar and scatter the grated orange over the top. Now go and make yourself a nice cup of tea, cut a slice of cake and enjoy your day.
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