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. 

You can find some product suggestions on my Amazon Storefront here.

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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Ottolenghi's Carrot Walnut Cake

I really envy people who have mothers, grandmothers and aunts who bake. My mother never even cooked with garlic much less eggs. Traditional food was the norm in the conservative family. And then later I shocked them all by bringing home some eggs (gasp!), baking regularly like its part of my daily routine. My family is now quite accustomed to my obsession, they rest assured all's well in my world as long as I bake frequently.

If I had a mother or aunt who baked, I would probably be the proud successor of a few tins and tools. I would have fiercely guarded those heirloom handwritten recipes in that dog-eared diary. Recipes I could fall back on and compare other recipes with. I would blog about recipes like 'Mom's Famous Fruit Cake' Or 'Gran's Best Ever Pound Cake' and I would challenge there just can't be another like this. For now, riding on my (plump) shoulders is the great responsibility of trying out and building a small repository of tried and tested recipes for my children.

Ever since I baked those little Spiced Carrot Macaroons, I have been wanting to bake a carrot cake with the same flavors. Yotam Ottolenghi 's famous Carrot Walnut Cake the obvious choice. Turned out to be a moist one flecked with carrots, coconut, toasted walnuts, spices and orange zest. Hubby loved it as the texture and spices are reminiscent of a fruit cake, albeit a light one.

I am honestly not sure if my cake had the texture its meant to have, but it was tasty and I really did not miss the frosting. I think this cake tastes better the day after it is baked, so do save some. I had grated the carrots in a small holed grater making them almost invisible in the cake. Slightly thickly grated carrot will add more texture and visual appeal too. Will increase the quantity of nuts next time. 

If like me, you have never tasted or baked a carrot cake, here is a good one you could start with.

Ottolenghi's Carrot Walnut Cake, recipe from here

Ingredients

All purpose Flour - 160 grams
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch
Ground Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
Ground cloves - 1/4 teaspoon
Vegetable Oil / sunflower oil - 200 grams / 240 ml / 1 cup
Sugar, weigh and then powder - 270 grams
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Grated Orange zest - 2 teaspoons, from about 2 really fresh oranges( My addition and I loved it!)
Egg, whole - 48 grams / 1 whole
Egg yolk - 18 grams / 1 yolk
Grated carrots -135 grams (weight after peeling and grating)
Walnuts, toasted and chopped - 50 grams
Shredded coconut - 50 grams (have used dried copra, peeled and grated)
Egg whites - 60 grams, from 2 egg white

For the cream cheese frosting ( I skipped this)
Cream cheese - 175 grams (at room temperature)
Soft unsalted butter - 70 grams
Icing Sugar - 35 grams
Honey - 25 grams
Walnuts - 30 grams, chopped and lightly toasted

Method :

• Grease, dust and line an 8 inch (20 cm) round spring form tin. Line the sides too with parchment. I did not line the sides. Pre-heat oven to 170 C.
• Weigh all dry ingredients first, wash and dry your measuring bowl. Weigh egg whites first and then the rest of the wet ingredients.
• To beat egg whites : A medium sized bowl and beaters of your hand mixer, 2 small cups to drop the whites in. Another small bowl to drop the yolks in. All of these need to be really clean and free of even a speck of grease.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and clove powders. 
• In another small bowl, lightly whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, orange zest and vanilla. 
• Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form. Do this first before you use the hand mixer for beating the oil. 
• Take the oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl, beat on medium speed (speed 2) for a minute. On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg, beat 30 seconds just to incorporate.
• Using a spatula, mix in the walnuts, coconut and carrots. Gently fold in the flour mixture. Do not over mix as you will be mixing more when you fold in the egg whites.
• Now gently fold in the beaten egg whites in 3 additions. Be careful to not over mix, a few streaks of white here and there are OK.
• Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 55 minutes to an hour. Check at 55 minutes. A tester should come out dry. Cover the cake with foil if the cake browns too much before its fully baked.
• Let the cake cool completely before removing from the tin. I removed it after 5 minutes and cooled on the rack. 
• To make the icing : Beat the cream cheese until light and smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, icing sugar and honey until light and airy. Fold together the cream cheese and butter mixture. spread on top of the cake, sprinkle with the toasted walnuts. Alternatively, decorate with marzipan carrots with neon green stems.

Please note : If the whites are not beaten right and folded in right, the cake may be denser. But it should still be tasty. The recipe gives the baking time as 60 minutes and for this cake I had set my timer for 70 by mistake. The second cake I baked was done at 55. Do not over bake as the cake may feel dry.

I have sliced the cake soon after it cooled. If you can be more patient, you should be rewarded with neater slices!