Carrot cake is my and my child’s all time favourite. There’s something so heartwarming about a good carrot cake. As soon as those orange carrots hit the Indian market, this is one thing I crave.
Why did I add orange to this cake? Well, I think it gives it that special subtle finesse that makes it stand out. Orange flavor goes beautifully with carrots. It gives a burst of citrus flavour along with a bright punch.
One bite of this can even convert those silly people who don’t like carrot cake 😄 Who are these people anyway!
My child loves to carry a slice of cake or a muffin in his school snack box. So I had to make it healthy and equally delicious for my child. This is the recipe that I mastered after a few failed attempts. Well, not exactly failed though. Those failed attempts were edible too but this one comes out to be perfectly soft, moist and fluffy.
It is made using Wholewheat flour and Jaggery. Now baking with wholewheat flour can be a little tricky. It can make the texture of the cake dense. To ensure that your cake remains light and fluffy, the trick is to sieve wholewheat flour 3-4 times. This will add more air and the cake will not come out dense.
This recipe is actually so easy to make that anyone who hasn’t tried baking before will be able to crack it. Being a mother I understand how busy days get and trying those time consuming recipes can be quite daunting at times. To save you from all that hassle, all you have to do is put everything in a blender and Viola! Your batter is ready in less than 5 minutes. This will also save you from washing too many bowls which is quite a task when you have to bake.
Do try out this recipe and let me know. Trust me it will not disappoint you. 🙂 You can frost this cake with your favourite cream cheese frosting. This recipe is a make-ahead cake recipe whose taste and texture will not be compromised.
This cake is not overly sweet. I don’t prefer too sweet desserts. Feel free to add more jaggery if you like.
Recipe: cup measurement 250 ml
| Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 mins |
Ingredients
- 2 medium size Carrots, shredded
- 3 heaped tbsps Orange Marmalade
- 60 grams softened unsalted Butter or any non-fragrant oil
- 1/2 cup Jaggery powder
- 1 1/2 cup Wholewheat flour
- A generous pinch Salt
- 2 small Eggs
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- Handful of Chopped Walnuts (optional)
Method
- In a blender, add butter, jaggery, lightly beaten eggs, milk, shredded carrots, marmalade & vanilla extract. Blend well on high speed till everything comes together. Take it out in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, sieve wholewheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add walnuts now if using and combine everything well.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 2 to 3 batches. Gently cut & fold each time till everything incorporates well and there are no lumps. Don’t mix rigorously or over mix the batter. This will lead to a dense cake texture.
- Preheat oven at 180C 10 minutes prior to baking. Grease a 7 inches diameter round pan or 11x7x2 inches rectangular baking pan with butter and line it with parchment paper or alternatively you can dust it with some flour.
- Add the batter. Tap the pan on the shelf 2-3 times to clear out all the air bubbles. Now, bake for 30 minutes on the middle rack of your oven or till a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
- Allow it to cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then transfer it on a wire rack to cool completely. If you find that the cake is sticking to the bottom of the pan, leave the cake upside down for sometime and let gravity do it’s thing.
My Pro Tips:
- Use fresh baking soda. It looses it potency after 6 months of opening it.
- When measuring dry ingredients, level it off using the straight edge of a spoon or a butter knife.
- This recipe makes 12 muffins. Bake them for 14 to 18 minutes and allow the muffins to cool completely on wire rack.
- You can add cinnamon and ginger powder to this recipe to add a warm touch to it.
- If you want this cake to be perfectly moist, use fresh carrots and shred them. DO NOT USE packaged pre-shredded carrots for this recipe. This is the prime moisture for your cake and you don’t want to miss it.
- In case you want to bake this cake for yourself and are feeling fancy, I would highly recommend adding Orange Whiskey Marmalade. Orange and whiskey combination can lift your simple cake to something gourmet. You can buy it here-
Substitutes:
- Eggs: You can either use flaxmeal or 1/4th cup Greek yogurt for every egg. For flaxmeal, take 1 tbsp flaxseeds for every egg. Coarsely ground them. Add 4 tbsps of water and let it sit for 15 minutes. It will become like a slimy gel like mixture. Use this as a substitute for one egg.
- Orange Marmalade: If you don’t want to use Orange Marmalade, you can use 1/4th cup of freshly squeezed orange juice along with a tsp of orange zest instead. If using orange juice, you might have to adjust sugar accordingly. Add 1 or 2 tbsps of extra jaggery powder.
- Jaggery: In case you don’t have jaggery powder, you can use any unprocessed sugar like palm sugar, coconut sugar etc.
