Whole Wheat Carrot & Pineapple Cake

A good carrot cake is meant to be eaten throughout the year, seasons are just an added excuse!  Or so thinks yours truly!

The last of the bits and pieces of Ottolenghi's Carrot Cake stashed away in the freezer were devoured long ago. Winter came and went, I almost could taste and smell the cake whenever I saw carrots. Coconut, nuts, carrots and spices, irresistible! But life has been a tad busy of late and I did not get a chance to bake that cake again. Thank God for fresh carrots all year round, I finally got some to bake a cake. Only this time around it had to be a healthier, easier version I could bake more often.
 

The 100% whole wheat carrot cake page in the King Arthur Whole Grain Book has been thumbed often enough, so I really wasn't searching for a recipe. And when the cake promises to be one which is hard to tell as whole wheat, I have no second thoughts! Delivering what it promises, it indeed is a delightful cake with a surprisingly tender crumb. Succulent pineapple bits make a lovely addition. Very soft and so good warm, I had to remind hubby and son that I still had to take some pictures. The advantage of baking a cake in a square tin, you can actually taste the cake before you take the mandatory pictures!  

What's even better is, it's a simple and easy cake to bake. I like these cakes plain, dress it up with cream cheese frosting if you wish!  

Watch the video! 

For best results, do not make any changes to the recipe. Use the right tools, pan size and ingredients. 

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Ingredients :

Eggs - 2 large / 100 grams (without shell)

Vegetable oil - 3/4 cup / 180 ml

Grated orange zest - 1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 3/4 cup / 150 grams, powdered (weigh and then process). Use 1/2 cup/100 grams for a just about sweet cake

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup / 50 grams

Whole wheat flour - 112 grams

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Baking powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Salt - a pinch

Ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon

Ground cloves - 1/4 teaspoon

Finely grated carrots - 1 1/4 cup approximately / 122 grams

Pecans or walnuts or cashew nuts, chopped and toasted - 1/2 cup (or more)

Unsweetened shredded coconut - 1/2 cup / 40 grams

Pineapple bits ( I used canned) - generous 1/2 to 1 cup

Cream cheese Frosting ( Optional )

Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 3 tablespoons /

Cream cheese, at room temperature - 4 oz 

Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon

Confectioner's sugar - 2 cups/ 225 grams, sifted

Chopped nuts - 1/2 cup, optional

Milk - 1-2 tablespoons

Method:

• Pre-heat  oven to 180 C / 350 F. Line an 8'' square tin with baking parchment, grease lightly. You could alternatively use a 9'' or 8'' round tin or a 9x13 pan for double the recipe. The baking time will vary.

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt. Set aside.

• In a medium sized bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the eggs on the lowest speed for about 30 seconds. Add the oil, vanilla and orange zest, beat 30 seconds again.

• Tip in the sugar, beat again just to incorporate, about 30 seconds.  Add the flour, beat 30 seconds on low speed till smooth. Using a spatula, mix in the carrots, pineapple bits, coconut and nuts.

• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. Cooling it for a few hours should give you neater slices. 
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• Dust with confectioner's sugar or frost with cream cheese, both entirely optional.

Cream cheese frosting

Combine the butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat them together till light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating well. Stir in the nuts, then the milk, a little at a time, till the frosting is of a spreadable consistency. 

Please note: 

Spices : The recommended amount of spices is 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. I used lesser(above) and used cloves in place of the nutmeg. I may add about 1/8 teaspoon more cinnamon next time.

You can use 1 cup raisins in place of  half of 8 oz can pineapple bits, but the cake will not be as moist.

Baking time :  8'' round - 30-35 minutes

9'' round - 35-40 minutes

Sheet cake - 45-50 minutes.


This tasty cake, I know will be made regularly to feed the sweet tooth of the foodie son and the fruit-cake loving hubby.  Now, we can't really deprive the baker of her slice. Right?

Forgive me for me being irregular, hope to be around more often! So, what's baking in your home to feed the exam fervor?

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Whole Wheat Almond Biscotti

Its been whole grains on my mind of late and I seem to be actually hoarding them! Amaranth flour thanks to Deeba, then some buckwheat flour, barley flour, sprouted finger millet flour, cornmeal and of course good old wheat flour. I made a stash of ragi malt with plenty more whole grains and nuts thrown in. Sweetened with jaggery or sugar, flavored with cardamom, I love sipping on some any time of the day! It goes to hubby's office in a flask for the late evening hunger pangs, the ever hungry pre-teen son manages to gulp down a glass now and then. The fussy daughter however still wrinkles her little nose, sigh! 

Whole wheat crepes, granola, granola bars, whole wheat almond biscotti and more have been appearing more often! I hope this isn't a passing phase and I stay inspired to include more of these grains in our meals. Its an acquired taste alright, but we should get there. Lots to experiment with, you will hopefully see more healthier baking here. Oh no, I never said I will forget all the sinful desserts and bakes, did I? 

Stumbled upon this recipe for biscotti made with whole wheat, almond meal and less sugar than usual. Without added fat, these are crunchy but not very hard. The log slices really well, making for thin biscotti. Slightly coarse textured, just about sweet (think Marie biscuits), these will be good cookies for the health conscious. If making these for kids, you may need to step up on the sugar by a tablespoon or more, add the mandatory chocolate chips or whatever catches their fancy. I have flavored the biscotti with Chai masala and orange zest, which is just a suggestion, cinnamon, cardamom or plain vanilla will be great too! 

Whole Wheat Almond Biscotti - Recipe from New York Times

Ingredients: To make about 15-18 thin biscotti .

Whole wheat flour - 125 grams

Almond meal - 30 grams

Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Chai masala - 1 1/4 teaspoon

Brown sugar - 62 grams / 1/3 cup packed

Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon

Eggs - 72 grams / 1 1/2 eggs

Orange zest, fresh from one orange. 

Almonds - 50 grams toasted and chopped ( I have used almond flakes)

• Method : Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees C / 300 F. Line a baking tray ( I used a 10x12) with parchment. 

• Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and chai masala. Zest the orange. I love my Microplane Zester* for this!Take the eggs, sugar, orange zest and vanilla in a medium sized bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat for the mixture for about 2 minutes on speed 3. The mixture will be thick. 

• Fold in the flour mixture, stir in the almonds. The dough will be sticky, may be a little less sticky and a little more firmer than the normal biscotti dough. 

• Scrape the mixture in the middle of the lined pan. With wet hands shape the dough into a log. I made mine about 9'' x 2'', about an inch high. If doubling the recipe, make two logs side by side, with at least 2 inches space between them and two inches around the logs. 

• Bake for about 35-40 minutes or till firm to the touch. The logs will spread but not a lot. Cool for 20 minutes or more if it suits your convenience.

• Place the log on the kitchen counter or dry cutting board. Slice on the diagonal into thin slices. 

• Arrange them on the baking sheet cut side down. (These are too thin to stand them up). Bake 10-12 minutes on each side. Bake longer for extra crunchy biscotti.

• Cool and store in an airtight container. 
• Please note : Use unrefined sugar or organic brown sugar in you wish, I have not tried these yet. Omit the chopped almonds in the dough if you want to cut down the calories further. 

If you like having these twice baked cookies around, you may want to play around with this recipe! 

Please note:*This psot contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and buy through the link, I will earn a tiny commission on the same. I recommend products which I have used and found good.You will be paying the same price as mentioned on the website, there will not be any variation here. This commission will help me with me costs of running the blog and channel. Your support will be greatly appreciated. 

Crunchy, Whole Wheat And Barley Chocolate Chip Cookies

A collective 'Gro..oan'!!! I heard it! I heard it! Considering that I gave you an over-doze of cookies last month, I am not very surprised to hear groans from you on seeing cookies here again! But then I guess, it would be hard to say 'No' to chocolate chip cookies which are crunchy and light, made with whole wheat and barley, less butter, some oil and no plain flour at all, making it a 100% whole grain cookie. Relatively healthy, but still delicious cookies you may want to fill your cookie jar with. And not feel very bad or guilty when your kids happily snack on them. Is there ever a time when there is no demand for chocolate chip cookies warm out of the oven? Not at my home, am sure, neither in yours! Strange as it may seem I don't enjoy my bakes very buttery, chocolate chip cookies included. Some amount of buttery-ness is welcome though. So when I came across this recipe in one of my bed-time reading books, which happens to be the King Arthur Whole Grain baking book a good number of times, I had to try it of course.

A pantry which does not stock on whole wheat flour is so very rare in this country. But barley is one grain, I never bothered to buy till I got the KAF book. Its rich in soluble fiber and minerals and brings along a host of other nutritional benefits with it. I have used it earlier in Graham Crackers and the flour certainly delivers the crunch factor as the book promises. Since I have not come across barley flour in our supermarkets here, I get a small quantity of barley milled and store it at home. You could get whole barley at most super-markets, failing which you can surely find it at your neighborhood wholesale rice trading shop.

The original recipe in the book uses a combination of brown and white sugars and a lot more chocolate chips. I have baked these cookies a few times and below is the version which I liked best, taste and flavor-wise. I have used only white sugar instead of a combination of both brown and white sugars, reduced the sugar and chocolate chips, omitted the espresso. Since the regular granulated sugar we get here does not dissolve easily (specially if the butter and oil in the recipe is less), I have powdered it and then used. You could alternatively use good quality caster sugar. Please find the original recipe proportions in the note below. I have halved the original recipe to give me about 20 medium sized cookies, which is a good enough quantity to bake in the sizes of ovens most of us bake in. Please feel free to double it if you wish. I prefer weighing the ingredients, flour, butter and egg (since I have used half an egg here) for best results.

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter - 30 grams / 2 tablespoons / 1/4 stick (soft at room temperature)
Vegetable oil - 1/4 cup
White sugar - 1/2 cup, measured and powdered.
Pure vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Salt - Scant 1/4 teaspoon (less than 1/4 teaspoon)
Apple cider vinegar - 1/2 tablespoon
Egg - 1/2 (25 grams)
Baking soda- 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Whole barley flour - 56 grams / 2 oz/ 1/2 cup approximately
Whole wheat flour - 56 grams / 2 oz/ 1/2 cup approximately ( I use Ashirwad)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 3/4 cup

Procedure: Pre- heat oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 F.  Line a baking tray with parchment. Mise en place. Sift the flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. (To use half an egg, I whisk a whole egg, then weigh 25 grams). Take the butter, oil and sugar in a large bowl. Beat till smooth. (I used my wire whisk to beat for about 2-3 minutes, this will be quite easy as the mixture will be very creamy) Add the vinegar, egg and vanilla. Beat to incorporate, about 30 seconds with the wire whisk. Stir in the flour mixture to mix, and then mix in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a bit on the softer side, but will turn firmer as it stands. It will also be a bit oily. Drop tablespoons of the dough, flatten slightly and bake  for 14-16 minutes. They will turn a golden brown around the edges towards the end of the baking time (if using both brown and white sugars, the cookies will turn a golden brown all over). Bake a small test batch to determine the baking time and your preferred texture. Allow the test cookie to cool completely before you taste to decide as the cookies will turn crunchy as they cool. Cool completely and store in an airtight container, but certainly not before eating some warm from the cooling rack...

Please note : The original recipe uses 6 tablespoons of brown sugar and 6 tablespoons of white sugar each (making a total of 12 tablespoons for the recipe of the proportions above) I have reduced it to 8 tablespoons ,i.e, 1/2 cup.  The recipe has 1 1/3 cups of chocolate chips (the above pictures were taken earlier) by the and 1/4 teaspoon espresso added too.  The amount of sugar I used was just right for me as the chocolate chips add to the sweetness of the cookies. You could also use chopped bits of dark chocolate in place of the chips or use a combination of lightly toasted walnuts and chocolate chips / chunks. I liked the texture of the cookies when the dough was flattened and baked rather than rounded tablespoonfuls of dough baked for a couple of minutes more.

The above pictures are of the cookies from the earlier attempt. They will be slightly flatter and have less chocolate chips if you go by the recipe above.

You could try using flax-egg or use cornstarch to substitute the egg here, it should work fine. Use 1 tablespoon cornstarch plus 1 tablespoon warm water whisked together to replace half an egg.
Mix 1/2 tablespoon flax meal with 1 1/2 tablespoon warm water, let it sit for 5 minutes. Use the mixture to substitute half an egg. Please refer Champa's post here for more details.