Marymoose measures her carrots with mugs! (Baking)

Member Name: marymoose

Product:	Baking
Date:	12/11/09 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Yummy, simple, fantastic, healthier than many cakes!

Disadvantages: None really unless hubby puts too much icing on

***Carrot Cake***

---Intro---
It was one of those weekends where hubby had deserted me, and I was left to my own devices, and having already made roasted red pepper soup I decided that I'd make something sweet, but it would have to be something that didn't have any complicated ingredients in it that would require leaving the house to get. I found a recipe for carrot cake online, and since I now know it off by heart I don't think it's plagiarising by sharing it with you!


---What you'll need---
A bowl, a wooden spoon, a baking tray, wire rack, skewer, some greaseproof paper (not absolutely essential though), an oven (this is essential), and a coffee mug for measuring the ingredients. Again, this isn't absolutely essential - I'm sure you can find out what that is in grams or ounces if you so desire. But surely it's just easier to use a coffee mug?


---Ingredients---
A mug of plain flour, a mug of castor sugar, half a cup of olive oil, one large carrot (it's meant to be a mug and a half when grated), 2 eggs (I use medium, don't think it really matters), a teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, half a teaspoon of baking powder.

For the icing you'll need a dollop of Philadelphia (I think the light version is best), the same amount of margarine or spreadable butter, a sprinkle of icing sugar, and a lemon.


---How to make---
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F or Gas Mark 4). Get all of the ingredients (except the icing ingredients of course!), put in a bowl and mix well (obviously cracking the eggs and peeling and grating the carrot with the cheese grater first!), preferably with a wooden spoon (hubby stupidly tried with the whisk which just meant the mixture got stuck in it).

Line the baking tray (I used a fairly deep rectangular one) with greaseproof paper. The first time I made them I didn't have any and just greased the tray, but the cake did stick to it so I had to eat more of it initially than intended!

Pop in oven for 40-45 minutes (skewer should come out clean), take out and cool on wire rack. Both times the mixture has ended up slightly more on one side of the tin than the other, but that hasn't been a problem, just means some bits are thicker than others.

When cool, mix the Philadelphia with the margarine and a good squeeze of lemon and icing sugar (to taste). Spread on top of cakes. You can do this either before or after you cut them into squares. Add some lemon zest to the top (I'm sure orange would work just as well).

Obviously the number of cakes you get depends on the measurements of your tin, and how big the pieces you cut are. We tend to get about 10-12.


---The Verdict---
This carrot cake was such a hit with hubby that he had to make it himself the following weekend, and it's just so simple - it would be great for kids to help with and the raw mixture tastes lovely! I think he put far too much icing on them though (I had to scrape it off) and it was a bit too heavy as he used full-fat Philadelphia.

Next time I make it I'm quite tempted to experiment a bit, possibly add some walnuts, it might even be nice trying a different kind of oil (such as walnut oil) instead of olive oil, I don't know! It might also be an idea to fill two smaller round tins with the mixture and make it into a cake with icing in the middle and on top.

Although no cake is going to be great for those trying to lose some weight (as I am) it's a lot better than something like a chocolate fudge cake. Plus the olive oil makes it slightly less bad than cakes using butters or vegetable oils. The cake is so lovely and moist, and has gone done well with all who have tried it (my colleague refused though as she doesn't like the idea of mixing carrot with cake - her loss!). We tend to keep the cakes in the fridge (due to the icing on top really) and it tastes better cold. This is definitely something we will continue to bake!

Summary: Everyone must try this cake!