It is HK Sister’s birthday this weekend and I was just wondering what cake I would have made for her when we were students. The answer is easy because I only had one cookbook then and it was the Cranks Cookbook. I would have made her a carrot cake. Indeed this is the cake I was thinking about when I made Carrot Cake Number One.
Life in our kitchen was simple and I weighed out the dry ingredients, grated the carrots by hand and used a hand-held electric beater to whisk the eggs and sugar.
So this afternoon I have gone back to basics and done the same. The only short-cut I took is that I grated the carrots using my Thermomix.
I made a double portion of the cake and grated 350 g of carrots in under 30 seconds. Specifically, I sliced the carrots into large chunks then placed them in the TM bowl and grated them for 3 seconds/ speed 5, after which I scraped down the sides of the bowl and repeated the process two more times. The result was really good.
The rest of the ingredients are simple to find. The most important thing to stress in baking is that you should weigh out all your ingredients, and get the oven to the right temperature, before you start making the cake mixture.
I now make most cakes in a 2-lb loaf tin, for ease of cutting. Using the original recipe meant that the cake was not as high as I wanted it to be, so I have worked out a rough ‘50% more’ recipe which reflects this. The original recipe is here.
For the Cake:
3 eggs
150 g golden caster sugar or soft brown sugar
115 g sunflower oil
150 g wholemeal self-raising flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon grated nutmeg
75 g raisins
75 g desiccated coconut
265 g finely grated carrots
How to Make:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas 4. Grease and line a 2-lb loaf tin.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and creamy. Whisk in the oil slowly.
Sift in the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, then add in the raisins, coconut and carrots. Using a spatula, gently fold everything together until well mixed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
Level the surface and bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until the cake bounces back when touched. A metal skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
The cake will slice into 10 thick or 12 medium-sized pieces – perfect for a sharing with friends.
Other recipes from Cranks here.
Cranks Recipe Book: The Vegetarian Classics by David Canter, published by Orion, ISBN 978-1409145714.