Carrot Cake

A very moist, healthy, cake made from grated carrots and whole wheat flour. The best part is, it can be made eggless or with eggs. This cake can be served with a sweet, yet light carrot glaze.

Carrot is a cool season crop and when grown at 15°C to 20°C will develop a good color. Therefore it is more grown in hilly areas and areas where the temperature goes down below 20°C in winters. 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients	Quantity	Quantity for Eggless
Carrots grated	2 cups	2 cups
Eggs	3	-
Sugar	½ cup+2 tbsp	½ cup+2 tbsp
Whole Wheat flour	¾   cup	¾   cup
Cinnamon Powder	½  tsp	½  tsp
Salt	a pinch	a pinch
Baking Soda	½  tsp	½  tsp
Baking Powder	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Oil	2 tbsp	5 tbsp
Curds	-	3 tbsp
Vanilla essence(optional)	few drops	few drops

Method

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Beat together eggs and sugar using a hand blender till sugar dissolves.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix using a spatula. 

Add oil and vanilla essence. Mix together. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eggless version:

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 170°C for 10 minutes.

Coarsely powder sugar in a blender. Whisk together oil and curds. Add sugar, whisk till sugar is completely dissolved.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and vanilla essence, mix using a spatula. Add few teaspoons of milk if you feel the cake batter is too dry. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 170°C for 40-50 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the cake to separate any sticking on the edges. To demold the cake, it with cake board or a plate and flip the cake on it. Cake cooling rack works best.

For Glaze:

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot juice	5 tbsp
Icing sugar	4 tbsp
Orange Juice (optional)	2 tbsp
Gelatin  (optional)	½  tsp

Method

Soak gelatin in 2 tbsp of water. Mix together carrot juice, orange juice and icing sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil on high heat and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture, mix well and boil for 2-3 minutes. You can strain the mixture if you feel the glaze is lumpy.

Cool down to room temperature and then pour over the cake. Keep the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes for the glaze to set.

You can serve this with vanilla ice-cream.

Points to remember:

·        Let the cake cool down completely before adding any icing or glaze.

·        The thickness of the glaze really depends on your liking. If you like a thicker glaze you can reduce on the flame.