Once upon a time, a long while ago when it was still considered recherche to put vegetables into cakes, carrot cake was thought to be the cure-all, healthy version of cake. It has a vegetable in it, so that must cancel out all of that fat and sugar, right?
As a vegetable-queasy vegetarian, my Mum thought that Carrot Cake was the answer to her prayers. It was one way that I actually enjoyed eating carrots and she thought that perhaps it might help my increasingly bad eyesight too. Suffice to say, I wasn't complaining, I even went to so far as to bake a Carrot Cake for my Home Economics class end of term exam, such was my love for this cake. I can't remember how I scored on that exam but I do know that I chose Art Design over Home Economics despite having zero artistic skill. Perhaps it had something to do with the cookery teachers, one a 4 foot tall death troll and the other a 6 foot tall Ilsa-esque, Teutonic death-bot. I might be exaggerating slightly. I think she may have been 5'11".
I doubt that my over-inflated reminiscences of Home Economy class being a concentration-like hell had anything at all to do with the fact that I consistently set things alight, not being at all used to gas hobs. Fortunately, the sinks were next to the gas flames as is the sensible order of things in a school lab/kitchen.
As a vegetable-queasy vegetarian, my Mum thought that Carrot Cake was the answer to her prayers. It was one way that I actually enjoyed eating carrots and she thought that perhaps it might help my increasingly bad eyesight too. Suffice to say, I wasn't complaining, I even went to so far as to bake a Carrot Cake for my Home Economics class end of term exam, such was my love for this cake. I can't remember how I scored on that exam but I do know that I chose Art Design over Home Economics despite having zero artistic skill. Perhaps it had something to do with the cookery teachers, one a 4 foot tall death troll and the other a 6 foot tall Ilsa-esque, Teutonic death-bot. I might be exaggerating slightly. I think she may have been 5'11".
I doubt that my over-inflated reminiscences of Home Economy class being a concentration-like hell had anything at all to do with the fact that I consistently set things alight, not being at all used to gas hobs. Fortunately, the sinks were next to the gas flames as is the sensible order of things in a school lab/kitchen.
But enough of my Tom Brown’s Schooldays type reminisces. Back to Carrot Cake.
Asides from making people feel less guilty about consuming cake, now that the shock value of eating o
f a cake with carrots in it has long since passed, what are we left with? Simply a moist, spicy cake that lasts exceptionally well in the cake tin and is a snap to make (aside from the utter tedium of grating the carrots, that is). If there could be one way to improve this rich, tender crumbed cake, what would it be? Of course, a Carrot Cake that really is lower in fat. Enter the Healthy-ish Carrot Cake. I say healthy-ish because you control certain elements of it. You can add some tinned pineapple for a tropical hit or you can use fresh pineapple, if you feel that the benefits of tinned fruits are nothing to write home about. You can use a non-fat icing by simply combining Icing/Confectioners sugar with some lemon juice until a thick, glossy, spreadable icing is achieved. Sure you’re still eating sugar but at least you’re in control. Plus, there isn’t much sugar at all in the cake and what sugar there is unrefined Muscovado which gives a richer flavour. The butter element is replaced with vegetable oil and for additional sweetness we have golden sultanas. And of course, the carrots themselves are naturally sweet and generously exude this sweetness during the baking process.
For added interest, you could also add some desiccated coconut or chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds but I think that too many accessories detract from the natural beauty of the carrot cake.
I couldn’t entirely forgo the butter element though, and slathered mine with a rich cream cheese icing. After all, it’s the icing that makes a carrot cake as far as I’m concerned. Low fat cream cheese works well though – shame there’s no such thing as low fat butter! As an alternative, I have mixed cream cheese with icing sugar and a spritz of lime juice and this works just as well, although it doesn’t set as firmly. Either way, I can eat the icing straight from the bowl and to hell with the cake!
So, here’s the recipe for this Low(ish) Fat Carrot Cake:
Asides from making people feel less guilty about consuming cake, now that the shock value of eating o
f a cake with carrots in it has long since passed, what are we left with? Simply a moist, spicy cake that lasts exceptionally well in the cake tin and is a snap to make (aside from the utter tedium of grating the carrots, that is). If there could be one way to improve this rich, tender crumbed cake, what would it be? Of course, a Carrot Cake that really is lower in fat. Enter the Healthy-ish Carrot Cake. I say healthy-ish because you control certain elements of it. You can add some tinned pineapple for a tropical hit or you can use fresh pineapple, if you feel that the benefits of tinned fruits are nothing to write home about. You can use a non-fat icing by simply combining Icing/Confectioners sugar with some lemon juice until a thick, glossy, spreadable icing is achieved. Sure you’re still eating sugar but at least you’re in control. Plus, there isn’t much sugar at all in the cake and what sugar there is unrefined Muscovado which gives a richer flavour. The butter element is replaced with vegetable oil and for additional sweetness we have golden sultanas. And of course, the carrots themselves are naturally sweet and generously exude this sweetness during the baking process.For added interest, you could also add some desiccated coconut or chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds but I think that too many accessories detract from the natural beauty of the carrot cake.
I couldn’t entirely forgo the butter element though, and slathered mine with a rich cream cheese icing. After all, it’s the icing that makes a carrot cake as far as I’m concerned. Low fat cream cheese works well though – shame there’s no such thing as low fat butter! As an alternative, I have mixed cream cheese with icing sugar and a spritz of lime juice and this works just as well, although it doesn’t set as firmly. Either way, I can eat the icing straight from the bowl and to hell with the cake!
So, here’s the recipe for this Low(ish) Fat Carrot Cake:
LOW FAT CARROT CAKE
(recipe adapted from Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking)Ingredients: 
150g Plain Flour
150ml Vegetable Oil1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Large Eggs150g Light Muscovado Sugar
1 Teaspoon Ground CinnamonGrating Nutmeg
Pinch of Mixed Spice250g Carrots (unpeeled weight), topped, tailed and grated
100g Golden (or regular) Sultanas
METHOD:
Preheat Oven to 180c. Line or grease and flour a 7" Cake Tin (square or round).100g Golden (or regular) Sultanas
METHOD:
Whisk together the sugar and oil and well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well.
Sieve together the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, then fold into the batter.Mix in the grated carrot and sultanas until thoroughly amalgamated. Pour into your prepared baking tin and bake for 40 minutes or a skewer comes out clean.Leave to cool for five minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool completely before icing.
ICING THE CARROT CAKEIcing 1 - The Healthy Option
Ingredients:100g Icing Sugar (preferably golden), sieved
Tablespoon or so of Fresh Lemon Juice
METHOD:Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the lemon juice, beating until smooth. Spread over the cooled cake. Decorate with walnut halves if feeling artistic.
Ingredients:
50g Cream Cheese (use low fat if you want)
50g Butter, softened (otherwise you'll end up with the slightly unattractive 'curd' like appearance that mine got through being impatient)
100g Icing Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
METHOD:
Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract, then sieve the icing sugar into the mixture and beat until smooth and lump free. Spread over the cake.
ENJOY!
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