Easy Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake:

I've been hunting for an easy carrot cake recipe for quite some time without success. There are hundreds of recipes on line and they are all very different. I've tried a few and never quite liked the icing or the been impressed with the results until recently. I found it in someones blog - then I tweaked it till I was happy with my version.

The reason I chose this particular one was simply because I had the ingredients in the cupboards and also because it's a no butter recipe. The fat comes from oil - so I substituted monosaturated rapeseed oil which is so much better for you than saturated fats in butter. I've also decided to omit the icing as there is no need for all that butter and icing sugar on top. The cake is not overly sweet and can be served with icecream/custard especially when hot out the oven!

The cake won't rise very much but the slices are moist and more-ish. This is the third time I've made it and it works a treat. It's so easy - all you have to do is measure out the ingredients, mix gently by hand and bung into the oven for 25-30min. Minimum of fuss and maximum in taste... and goodness!

Ingredients:
125g of Self raising flour sifted through a sieve into a mixing bowl
125g of Soft brown sugar
125g of Grated carrots [about 2 medium sized carrots peeled and grated]
125g of Monounsaturated oil like rapeseeed oil*

25g of dessicated coconut
25g of chopped walnuts
25g of raisins

1tsp of cinnamon
A pinch of salt
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2eggs

Equipment:
Pre-heated oven to 200 degrees C [fan]
Weighing machine
Grater
Greased Floured Springform cake tin lined with baking paper
Sieve

Note: the recipe I found on line didn't use a raising agent so my 1st attempt was quite flat. I used 1 tsp of baking powder in my 2nd attempt and it was slightly higher but the 3rd attempt with 1 tsp of bicarb worked best. They are both levening agents and cannot be used together but bicarb works better if the cake batter is acidic which I think it is with the carrots in... I think it will always rise better if you also have a good oven that doesn't lose heat and if you don't prematurely open the oven door and let air in!

Method:

1. Measure out everything and put all the dry ingredients into a bowl along with the nuts, grated carrots and raisins

2. Add the eggs and gently mix together before adding the oil and making sure it is all combined well

3. Scrape the batter into the tin and pop into the oven on the middle shelf and turn down the heat to 180 degrees

4. Take out and rest after 25-30min when the top is golden

5. Remove from the tin and serve warm with cold icecream or cold with hot custard

[*Monounsaturated fats are good for health as they help reduce low density lipoprotein cholesterol i.e.LDL which is the bad stuff, but they do not reduce high density lipoprotein aka HDL cholesterol - which is the good kind. They are linked with healthy diets that reduce the risk and the rate of coronary heart disease...

Of course the sugar, raisins and the coconut attribute to the richness of this cake but it's one of the healthiest ones going I reckon due to having no butter and no butter based icing on top. It also has the nutrients from the carrots like Vitamin A and Fibre along with good fats from the nuts! So there's no need to feel guilty when tucking into this treat - just go easy on the icecream or custard!]