Jessie’s Recipe: Carrot Cake

Dad and I munched indulgently on these last weekend and agreed they were deserving of a blog post. They are carrot cake cupcakes that I made for him and for Gloria when they visited me in my new home in London.

Like Dad, I eat a diet that consists mostly of raw food. The only reason I will turn on an oven is to heat felafels and, on special occasion, to bake a carrot cake. This was a special occasion and, for it, I prepared a raw beetroot and mint salad and a carrot cake. The recipe that I use is an adaption of my nanna’s and last weekend I tried to further adapt it. I’ve become more conscious of what I put into my body since I first used this recipe and I’d now it like to contain minimum amounts of sugar and minimum amounts of wheat. Help me out? Find the original recipe below in black and the ingredients that I used last weekend in green. I’d like to make it again soon but with coconut oil and coconut flour (I found this article on Sarah Wilson’s blog about using coconut flour for baking).

Carrot cake

Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs 4 free-range organic eggs
• 2 cups of white sugar 2 cups of light muscovado (a natural, unrefined cane sugar)
• 1 cup of vegetable oil 1 cup of organic hazelnut oil (unrefined, first cold pressing)
• 2 cups of plain flour  2 cups of a gluten free plain white flour blend
• 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda 2 teaspoons of a gluten free bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder 2 teaspoons of a vegan and gluten free baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder 1 teaspoon of raw, organic cacao powder
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 2 teaspoons of natural vanilla extract
• 3 cups of carrots, grated coarsely 3 cups of organic carrots, grated coarsely
• 1 cup of walnut pieces 1 cup of organic walnut pieces
• 1 can of crushed pineapple, well drained 250g (I think) of pineapple, crushed

Cream cheese icing:

• 1/2 cup of butter, melted slightly 1/2 cup of organic, unsalted butter, melted slightly
• 250g of cream cheese 250g of a dairy-free soya alternative to cream cheese
• 1 teaspoons of vanilla extract 1 teaspoon of natural vanilla extract
• 4 cups of icing sugar 1 cup of golden icing (a natural, unrefined cane sugar)
• 1 cup of walnut pieces 1 cup of organic walnut pieces

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease a cake tin or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Beat sugar and eggs until spongey.
3. Add oil and beat in well.
4. Stir in sifted dry ingredients.
5. Fold in vanilla extract, carrots, walnuts and pineapple.
6. Bake for 30 minutes until solid and crispy. The mixture will not rise much so fill the cake tin/ cupcake wrappers.
7. Combine cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and icing sugar. Beat until mixed, thick and smooth. Sprinkle crushed nuts on top.