Sunday, January 13, 2013

Carrot and Cranberry Cake

So, we're all back to work and a bit of routine.  Christmas seems like a distant memory, apart from the bits of food that you keep finding around the house.  For me, it was carrots.  I must have bought my bodyweight in them and I was getting heartily sick of roasting them, delicious as they were.  I needed to turn them into something else.  Coming across a packet of dried cranberries in the cupboard kickstarted my brain.  It was cakey love time.

Photos by Kerrie Walsh


Cranberries and carrots work really well together in salads, so it makes perfect sense that they would partner up together in a cake.  I used my basic Carrot Cake recipe, made a few tweaks to suit the cranberries and lo, we had a new cake. This is deliciously moist and practically healthy given the vast quantities of fruit and veg it contains.  Yeah, I know I'm stretching the truth somewhat but it didn't stop anybody eating it.  This cake also freezes beautifully - I made it in disposable foil trays and one is sitting in my chest freezer ready for a cake emergency.


Carrot and Cranberry Cake

350ml Vegetable Oil (I used Rapeseed)
6 Eggs
350g Soft Brown Sugar
280g Carrots, finely grated
170g Dried Cranberries
350g Self-Raising Flour
1 tbsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tbsp Ginger
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180c / Gas Mark 4.  Line the base of two 9-inch baking tins with baking paper.


Put the eggs, oil, carrots, sugar & cranberries into a large bowl & mix with a wooden spoon or use a food mixer  to save time.

Add the dry ingredients into the mixture and mix until lightly combined - mix it too much & it will go tough which is not what you want.  It will look really sloppy at this stage, but that's absolutely perfect.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin(s) & bake for 30 minutes.  If the sponge springs back & a skewer comes out clean, then the cake is ready.  If not, give it another 5-7 minutes & check again.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack & removing the lining paper on the base.





This recipe is part of the fantastic Credit Crunch Munch campaign from Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All


6 comments:

  1. What size tin does it take? Is this receipe.for one cake or more? 6 eggs seems like a lot! Just wondering.it sounds lovely, thanks

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  2. Whoops - I knew I forgot something! It's two 9-inch tins

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  3. I just found some cranberries lurking in the fridge. I feel your pain. Trying to find a home for neglected Christmas ingredients isn't easy!

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  4. How much orange zest - that isn't listed as an ingredient in the recipe?

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  5. Double whoops. Original recipe had orange zest. I had no oranges this time so used the cranberries... recipe updated! Thanks!

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  6. Ooh this cake sounds healthy, yummy and kind to the purse a definite winner all round. Thank you for entering it into Credit Crunch Munch:-)

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