My very dear friend Jen developed this recipe when we were Thermomix consultants together. It is a fabulous recipe which I have altered slightly to cater for my personal taste.
Jen also provides the recipe for cream cheese frosting but the cake it equally lovely left plain, and sprinkled with some extra walnuts or seeds, or a combination of both, prior to baking, which is what I prefer.
I have used a medium loaf tin (base measurement 22cm x 9cm), and Jen uses a 20cm round cake tin, so whichever you have will be perfect.
RECIPE UPDATE MARCH 2020
In the original version of this recipe I recommended using a mix of pepitas and sunflower seeds as a substitute for walnuts to cater for nut allergies. Using seeds – which are high in chlorophyll – can make them appear green a day after the cake is baked (this is due to a reaction with the baking powder and baking soda in the recipe). Whilst this does not affect the flavour at all, it can deter from the look of the cake. So when making this cake nut free, I no longer add seeds to the cake mixture, but use a generous sprinkle on top of the cake for a bit of crunch, and I have noted the recipe accordingly.
- 400g carrot, peeled weight, and roughly chopped
- 200g raw caster sugar, plain caster sugar, coconut sugar, or rapadura sugar
- 200g plain spelt flour, or plain flour
- 3 x 59g eggs
- 120g light olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, or ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1½ tsp bicarb soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g walnuts (optional, leave out for nut free - see notes)
- Extra walnuts, or seeds for nut free, for topping if not using icing
- 100g raw sugar
- 150g cream cheese
- 40g fresh lemon juice
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- Grease and line medium loaf tin, or 20cm round cake tin
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
- Place carrots into TM bowl and chop 3 seconds / speed 6
- Put aside, but if you see some large chunks return them to TM bowl and chop 1 second / speed 6 and add to the other carrots
- Do not wash bowl
- Place all other ingredients except carrots and walnuts (if using) and mix 10 seconds / speed 5
- Scrape down sides and add carrots and walnuts (if using), and mix 10 seconds / reverse / speed 5
- Pour batter into loaf or cake pan, level top and sprinkle extra walnuts or seeds (for nut free) over the top if you are not using the icing, and bake for 1 hour (test, and you may need an extra 10 minutes but in my oven an hour is usually perfect … this time is for both the loaf and round tin).
- Rest in cake pan for 20 minutes, then place onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting if using
- Cake keeps well for a few days, do not refrigerate
- Place sugar into TM bowl and mill 10 seconds / speed 9
- Add rest of ingredients and mix 20 seconds / speed 9
- Store in fridge and spread over carrot cake when cooled
Jen also provides the recipe for cream cheese frosting but the cake it equally lovely left plain, and sprinkled with some extra walnuts, seeds or combination of both prior to baking.
I have used a medium loaf tin (base measurement 22cm x 9cm), and Jen uses a 20cm round cake tin, so whichever you have will be perfect.
RECIPE UPDATE MARCH 2020
In the original version of this recipe I recommended using a mix of pepitas and sunflower seeds as a substitute for walnuts to cater for nut allergies. Using seeds - which are high in chlorophyll - can make them appear green a day after the cake is baked (this is due to a reaction with the baking powder and baking soda in the recipe). Whilst this does not affect the flavour at all, it can deter from the look of the cake. So when making this cake nut free, I now only use a generous sprinkle of seeds on top of the cake for a bit of crunch, and I have noted the recipe accordingly.
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