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Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes

Spiced Parsnip Date and Orange Cupcakes recipe

I have made quite a few variations of carrot and pineapple desserts, however I’m never quite satisfied with the final outcomes. Yes they were nice, but have never been blog worthy, they always lacked a little something extra to give them that wow factor.

Finally I have got there, funnily it was as simple as using my carrot cake recipe as a base and altering accordingly. I can’t believe I had the perfect base recipe all along and have attempted 5 different versions over the span of the last 2 years!

So we know coconut and pineapple are complementary tropical flavour parings. While, the carrot and the pineapple have very similar textures as well as being well balanced when combined (the pineapple sweetness works perfectly with the savory flavour of the carrot).

This recipe is an easy and luscious-tasting spin on a tropical cake combined with a spiced carrot cake.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 150g butter
  • 180g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 180g self raising flour
  • 1 tsn baking powder
  • ½ tsn bi carbonate of soda
  • 1 tsn ground ginger
  • 1 tsn mixed spice
  • 90g desiccated coconut
  • 2 tsn lemon zest
  • 210g pineapple, diced
  • 180g carrot
  • 90ml coconut milk

Frosting:

  • 20ml coconut milk
  • 70g icing sugar
  • 40g butter

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c degrees and line a 16 capacity cupcake tin with cupcake patties. Spray the inside of the patty cases with a little oil spray.
  2. Using electric beaters beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
  3. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
  4. Add the flour, powder, soda, spices, coconut and zest in another bowl and stir until combine.
  5. Grate the carrot and add into the flour mix along with the diced pineapple, stir to combine.
  6. Add the butter mix to the flour and stir.
  7. Add the coconut milk and stir until the mix is well combine.
  8. Spoon the mix evenly into each patty case.
  9. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
  10. Meanwhile make the icing by placing all the ingredients into a bowl and using electric beats whisk until light and fluffy.
  11. Once the cakes are cooked place on a cooling tray until cold. Remove from the patty cases.
  12. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe little circles of frosting on each cake.
  13. Top with a pineapple piece or extra coconut if desired.

 

 

Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes recipe

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Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes recipe

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Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes recipe

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Carrot Pineapple and Coconut Cakes recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf

Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

This recipe derived from wanting to make something sweet (but not too sweet), to deliver on the healthy side of baking, while being gluten free & process ingredient free, though still featuring an interesting mix of flavours for a dessert.

Lemon is very common in my baking and I have used Rosemary in a few of my recipes in the past (see my Mandarin and Rosemary Cake – one of my favs), and carrot cake is quite a common favourite for many. So how is this recipe unique and different? These 3 flavours combine, though are super delicious and complementary of each other, are not typical at all.

Add in nuts, seeds and natural sugar (well honey) and you end up with a tasty dessert that will keep you satisfied while being friendly to your hips (well more so than standard baking treats that’s for sure)!

For a bit more deliciousness I whipped up an easy and quick cream cheese based icing.

This recipe hits the dessert craving spot without the ‘naughty’ feeling.

Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

Loaf:

  • 80g walnuts
  • 80g almond meal
  • 40g LSA
  • 2 tbsn phylum husk powder
  • 1 tsn baking powder
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 22g dried rosemary
  • 60g chia seeds
  • 2 carrots (a 130g carrot will produce 120g grated carrot)
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tsn lemon infused olive oil (or normal EVOO)
  • 2 tbsn almond milk
  • 60g honey
  • 2 tsn lemon zest

Frosting:

  • 60g butter
  • 60g cream cheese
  • 1 + ½ tsn lemon zest
  • 30ml honey
  • 150ml cream

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
  2. Place the walnuts into a food processor and blitz until fine breadcrumb consistency.
  3. Add the almond meal, LSA, psylium, powder, salt and rosemary to the food processor and pulse until well combine.
  4. Pour the mix into a bowl and stir in the chia seeds.
  5. In a separate bowl place the grated carrot, eggs, olive oil, honey and lemon zest, beat with a hand whisk until combine.
  6. Pour the carrot mix into the rosemary mix and stir until well combine.
  7. Spoon the loaf batter mix into the tin, flattening the mix with the back of a spoon to even the top.
  8. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
  9. Allow the loaf to cool in the tin.
  10. Meanwhile, make the frosting by whisking the butter, cheese, lemon zest and honey with electric beaters in a bowl until smooth and creamy.
  11. In a separate bowl whisk the cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form.
  12. Add the butter mix to the cream mix and beat until combine.
  13. Remove the now cold loaf from the tin and top with the frosting, enjoy.

 

Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Rosemary Lemon and Carrot Loaf recipe

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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich

Posted on Posted in Biscuits, Ice-cream cake .

Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich

Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich recipe

This is a really easy and quick ‘cheats’ version of an addictive carrot ice-cream sandwich.

The ‘cheat’ component coming from the use of store purchased vanilla ice-cream (saving you 45 mins prep + setting time) and using pre-cooked tin carrots (saving you 45 mins of prep + roasting the carrots time).

Now by no means am I saying you cannot make your ice-cream from scratch or roast your carrots from raw, however these days you can buy a premium quality vanilla-ice-cream.

I know canned carrots doesn’t sound very appealing but hear me out, once blitzed with the spices this mix will be so tasty you will want to use it as a dip.

This recipe has 2 parts the ice-cream and the biscuit component but let me tell you this ice-cream is the star. Yes my shortbread biscuits are my tried and quadruple tested biscuits that I use as the base to all my shortbread baking but even still this ice-cream is the hero.

To be honest I’m not the biggest fan of carrots but this ice-cream is a moreish tasting carrot cake treat.

I had high hopes for this recipe and OMG it came through with guns blazing.

Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich

Ingredients:

Ice-Cream:

  • 2 x 410g can of cooked carrots
  • ½ tsn ground ginger
  • ½ tsn ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsn ground cinnamon
  • 40g icing sugar
  • 400g vanilla ice-cream

Biscuit:

  •  110g butter, softened
  • 40g custard powder
  • 50g icing sugar
  • 150g flour
  • ½ tsn baking powder
  • 1 tsn ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsn ground ginger
  • ½ tsn ground nutmeg

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Take the ice-cream out of the freezer and allow it to soften for 10 minutes.
  3. Place the drained carrots into a food processor and blitz until a puree is formed.
  4. Pass puree through a sieve into a bowl and add the spices and icing sugar. Stir to combine.
  5. Add the ice-cream to the carrot puree mix and beat with a hand whisk until well combined.
  6. Place the ice-cream into the freezer for at least 3 hours to harden.
  7. Meanwhile, place all the biscuit ingredients in a food processor and process until the mix clumps together.
  8. Roll the mix into 12 x 30g balls and place onto the lined tray.
  9. Using a fork push into the center of the ball slightly to form the biscuit shape.
  10. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until the biscuits are slightly golden.
  11. Place the biscuits on a cooling tray until cold then in the freezer to chill for 30 mins+.
  12. Take the ice-cream and biscuits out of the freezer.
  13. Sandwich the ice-cream between 2 biscuits using a spoon and remove any excess, place back in the freezer for 20 minute or until ready to serve.

 

Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich

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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich

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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Carrot Cake Ice-Cream Biscuits Sandwich
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Spiced Garden Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Spiced Garden Cake

Spiced Vegetable Cake recipe

In the past I have made many cake with veggies; a chocolate zucchini cake, spiced carrot cake, traditional Swedish apple cake, pumpkin and maple cake, pumpkin pie…and the list goes on.

All of these cakes were sooo tasty and are beautifully moist thanks to the vegetables.

I wanted to take baking with veggies to another level, it may sound weird and bland to have a cake based on a selection of common garden vegetables, however the mix of spices, zingy zest and satisfying inclusion of cream make this cake a unique hearty and nourishing treat.

This cake is also a great way to use up left over vegetables and turn them into a scrumptious dessert.

Spiced Vegetable Cake recipe

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 215g flour
  • 230g brown sugar
  • 2 tsn ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsn ground mixed spice
  • 1/4 tsn ground cardamom
  • 1 tsn baking powder
  • 120g grated apple
  • 90g grated carrot
  • 90g grated zucchini
  • 50g grated pumpkin
  • 1/2 tsn orange zest
  • 80ml vegetable oil
  • 80ml milk
  • 2 eggs

Cream icing:

  • 150g cream
  • 2 tbsn icing sugar
  • 1 tsn orange zest
  • 1/2 tsn ground cardamom

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170c degrees and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. In a bowl place the flour, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, cardamom and baking powder and stir until combine.
  3. Add the grated apple, carrot, zucchini and pumpkin and stir unit into the dry mix until combine.
  4. In a separate bowl mix the zest, milk, oil and eggs.
  5. Add the egg mix into the flour mix and stir until well combine.
  6. Pour the mix into the tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, leave aside to cool on a cooling rack.
  7. With electric beaters whisk the cream until soft peaks form.
  8. Add the sugar, zest and cardamom to the cream and whisk until combine.
  9. To assemble cut the cake horizontally in half.
  10. Place 1 cake layer on a plate, top with half the cream icing, top with the 2nd cake layer and then with the remaining icing.
  11. Enjoy!

 

Spiced Vegetable Cake recipe

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Spiced Vegetable Cake recipe

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Spiced Vegetable Cake recipe

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

The purpose of this cake was originally to utilise 2 cake mix’s and make a really quick and unique cake that took no effort and could be applied to any cake mix flavor’s.

After deciding that I would use carrot as my base I then opted for vanilla so I could add a few flavor profiles to the mix without letting them overpower the carrot base.

I needed complementary flavors to the carrot, not a flavor takeover! A little cocoa and chai powder seemed like the perfect match and just to put a spin on this I added a hit of chili.

I figured cocoa and chili go well and chai chocolate would be just like spiced chocolate. Carrot cake tends to have lots of spices thus the chai should work.

The chocolate and carrot combo…that was a risk, but a risk that paid off.

Ingredients:

  1. 470g carrot cake mix
  2. 340g vanilla mix
  3. 70g chai powder
  4. 35g cocoa powder
  5. ¼ tsn chili powder
  6. Eggs
  7. Oil
  8. Milk

Icing:

  • 140g cake mix icing powder
  • 70g chai powder
  • 1/8th tsn chili powder
  • 150g butter

 

Method:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
  2. Prepare the carrot cake according to the cake mix instructions (adding the egg, oil and water. Stir with a hand whisk until well combine etc).
  3. Pour the batter into a cake tin.
  4. Prepare the choc chai cake by adding the vanilla mix into a bowl through a sieve.
  5. Remove 100g of the vanilla mix and add the chai powder, cocoa powder and chili powder through a sieve, stir well.
  6. Continue the choc chai cake by preparing the cake mix according to the cake mix instructions (adding the egg and milk. Stir with a hand whisk until well combine etc).
  7. Pour the batter into the second cake tin.
  8. Place both cakes in the oven and bake according to box instructions (45 minutes) or until a skewer inserted in the cakes comes out clean.
  9. Place the cakes onto a cooling rack until cold.
  10. Meanwhile to prepare the icing place the icing mixes, chai powder, chili powder and butter (at room temperature) to a bowl and beat with electric beaters.
  11. Cut the tops off both cakes to ensure flat cakes.
  12. Cut both cakes into 2 horizontally.
  13. Place a carrot cake layer on a plate and spread with 100g of the icing.
  14. Add a chai cake on top and spread 100g of the icing.
  15. Add the last carrot cake layer and spread with 100g of icing.
  16. Top with the last chai cake layer and top with the remaining 100g of icing.
Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chai Chocolate Mix Cake

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake

Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

Chocolate and chai just work wonderfully together. Spices give the carrot a beautiful personality and carrots in chocolate cake produce the most moist and satisfying texture. This being said it makes perfect sense to take these flavours and produce a uniquely flavorsome cake.

One of the challenges I wanted to give myself was to try and pack this cake as full of veggies as possible. I wasn’t aiming for a big carrot flavour, I was more after the nutrients the carrot added to the cake and the texture it created with the grated carrot.

After some experimenting I produced an absolutely lovely cake that has a massive 3 cups of grated carrot! How’s that for a kick start to your veg intake for the day.

As you cannot taste or see the carrot (thanks to the chocolates strong colour and taste), it means you can trick the kids into eating some veg.

Ingredients:

  • 1 + ½ cup self raising flour
  • 45g cocoa powder
  • 3 chai teabags
  • 870g grated carrot
  • 2 eggs
  • 150g brown sugar
  • 100ml vegetable oil
  • 125g dark chocolate, melted

Icing:

  • 250g mascarpone cheese
  • 125g dark chocolate
  • 300g icing sugar

Method:

  1. Pre heat an oven to 175c degrees and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Place the flour, cocoa powder and contents of the tea bags into a food processor and blitz for 1 minute on high.
  3. Place the carrot into a bowl and stir through the flour mix until all the grated carrot is completely covered.
  4. Place the sugar, oil and melted dark chocolate into a bowl and beat with a hand whisk until well combined.
  5. Pour the chocolate mix into the carrot mix and stir until well combine with no lumps.
  6. Pour the mix into the cake tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  7. Place the cake on a cooling rack until cold.
  8. Meanwhile to make the icing place the cheese, melted chocolate and icing sugar into a food processor and blitz until the mix is smooth and fluffy.
  9. Spread the icing on the top and sides of the cake.

 

Note:

  • I have decorated with carrot praline on top of the cake.

 

Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

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Carrot Chocolate and Chai Cake recipe

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