Whole-wheat flour Carrot Cake
Tender spongy wet whole-wheat carrot cake with a great glaze
why is carrot cake so good?
I'd say it's a combination of a moist interior and a crunchy shell on the outside. There are plenty of pound cakes with similar characteristics, but when you add grated carrots — a firm vegetable that stays firm even after baking — you get this shift in texture. Suddenly there are different layers of spongy vs. crunchy in every bite.Seasoning makes the difference
Carrots and strong spices go well together. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg — whatever you can think of is very much welcome. I've never tried to analyze it, but I guess the neutral, semi-sweet taste of the carrots coexists well with strong spices.Adding nutritional value to the carrot cake
I happen to think that regular white all-purpose flour adds no flavor over whole-wheat flour. On the contrary, whole-wheat flour adds depth and texture that regular flour just can't give a cake. White flour will always give a spongy, airy texture to a pound cake — that's fine — but if you're after something richer, there's an alternative. I also cut the sugar in half and added date honey instead. The cake ends up deeper in flavor and lighter. Oil is another key ingredient in pound cakes. It's usually used instead of butter to make the cake fluffier and airier. I usually go with that, but the nutritional value of oil is less than butter — not to mention the taste — so I used a combination of both to get texture and flavor in one shot.
Carrot cake baking
There's a fine line between a moist cake and a dry one. The official baking time is 1 hour, but I'd definitely recommend checking the cake after 50 minutes to see if a toothpick comes out dry. Every oven is slightly different, and of course the smaller the baking pan, the fewer minutes it'll take to fully bake the carrot cake. There are plenty of common variations for this cake — walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins, and much more. Bake it once and you won't stop baking it over and over again.Method
- 1
Mix ingredients· 25 min
Preheat oven to 170°c/ 340°F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Place butter and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix for one minute and add the eggs one at a time, pour oil and water in a steady drizzle. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients, flour baking soda, baking powder, Cinnamon, Ginger. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix for another minute, add the date honey and the carrots just until combined. Pour the mixture into the baking pan .
- 2
Baking and serving· 1hr
Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes - 1hr, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Take out the cake and let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. That's it ready to serve.
Jaron Kimhi
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
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