Let’s take a bit of a swing away from, how should we say… ‘classical’ cake baking, shall we guys?

Now this yonder recipe is one for a moist and ever-so-flavourful carrot cake. If you’re a regular here, then you might just remember it that I mentioned it in my recipe for cream cheese icing – as the icing is, while I’m on the subject of it, pretty ideally suited to the flavours of this recipe.

How does this recipe lean away from classical cake baking, you may ask? Simply put, using oil in lieu of butter is a familiar feature of food preparation in the Mediterranean, be it for cooking or baking.

‘Morgan, you charismatic stallion’, you may ask. ‘But all baking needs to be based around butter. All of your previous recipes, at least for classical baking, have been butter-based. What gives?’

Actually, this isn’t quite the case. Baking with a low-intensity oil, you see, has actually been done for centuries as it bestows upon cakes and cookies a light texture and you should be able to confidently substitute it for butter in most recipes.

‘But why should I do that, Morgan?’ You may continue to ask. Good question.

Using low-intensity vegetable or olive oil has the effect of dramatically reducing the fat content and even the cholesterol of desserts. Baked goods made with oil can be expected to be fresher, moister and taste lighter and, as the richness of the butter has been withheld, the flavours of the other ingredients in the recipe are more easily noticed.

As a little bit of a disclaimer, however, butter should always be used – and I mean always – over oil in recipes for frosting, as a typical requirement of frosting is that it remain at least relatively solid at room temperature. Needless to say, this will not be possible with oil

So that in mind, now that I have taught you the perks of baking with oil, I think that it’s about time that we get down to business.

Let’s get ready to make some deliciousness, readers.

First things first, as per usual, preheat your oven to 165C and prepare a 30cm round cake tin. On the subject of cake tins… if you’re seeking to make a layer cake – and why wouldn’t you, they’re pretty spectacular – you can indeed divide up the batter between two 20cm round cake tins, or you can simply split the 30cm cake with flavorless dental floss (here is a video from Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple demonstrating how to do just that). It’s not as pretty, but it can save time in the form of washing up and – if your oven is limited in size – sheer time of baking.

Next, grab yourself a large bowl and add two cups of sifted flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, one and a half teaspoons of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt and two and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon. Give it a good whisk to combine, and then set it aside for now. We’ll come back to it in due course.

Separate the four eggs, putting the yolks and the whites into individual bowls. Set the egg whites aside for now. Add three quarters of a cup of oil and two cups of brown sugar to the yolks, and whisk until they’re well combined.

Remember those egg whites which should be sitting nearby? Yeah, bust out your hand mixer and go to town on them, get them all thick and glossy. Once you’ve achieved the aforementioned thickness and glossiness, combine with the wet ingredients, and then go ahead and fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until fully combined.

The next step is to stir in two and three quarter cups of grated carrots, three-quarter cups each of crushed and drained pineapple, and chopped walnuts and apple sauce. If you’re lacking canned applesauce, or looking for something a little healthier, then go ahead and try some smooth stewed apple. Add a cup of flaked coconut to the bowl, and stir until combined.

All that’s left to do now is spread the cake batter into your prepared tin and then bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer in the center comes out clean and the cake is feeling the same all over the top of the cake. If that sounds like an odd way to test a cake’s readiness, then I invite you to try it out – you’ll see what I mean.

When the cake is cold, prepare the cream cheese frosting: put the butter in a medium-sized bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese and lemon juice, and whisk again until combined, and then sift in icing sugar and combine until the icing sugar is fully incorporated. Tier the cake first, if desired, and then slather the center of the cake with icing and then coat the tops and the sides. Add a little decorative swirl with the underside of a spoon, starting in the centre and then radiating outwards, and then serve without further delay. Enjoy.

Hope you enjoyed that! Let me know how you find the recipe, y’all. If you have any questions, or even a challenge, then leave it in the comments section below. Cheers 🙂

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2.5 tsp ground cinnamon

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups brown sugar

2 and 3/4 cups of shredded carrot

3/4 cup EACH of apple sauce, crushed and drained pineapple, chopped walnuts

1 cup of flaked coconut

1 recipe cream cheese icing

Directions

Preheat oven to 165C, and prepare a 30cm round cake tin In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to combine, and set aside. Separate eggs, and set egg whites aside. Put egg yolks into a bowl, adding oil and sugar, and combine with a hand mixer. Beat egg whites until smooth and glossy, stirring into wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding until combined. Stir in carrot, apple sauce, pineapple, walnuts and coconut Spread cake batter into prepared tin, smooth out, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. When cold, ice with cream cheese icing. Serve.