CARROT AND CHOCOLATE CAKE

Carrots with their sweet, aromatic flavor and their crunchy and juicy texture have been used in sweets since the Middle Ages. Of carrot cake, however, there is not a single one, but a multitude of variations, today I want to share Anne Wilson’s carrot and chocolate cake no traditional carrot cake, as you can imagine I prepared it but in my own way ….

Carrot and chocolate cake

Ingredienti per 10 piccole tortine :

190 g of carrots already cleaned
2 eggs
150 ml of water used to soften apricots and pineapples
125 g of brown rice flour
15 g of unsweetened cocoa powder
35 g of walnuts
35 g of dried apricots (equivalent to 5 apricots)
65 g of dried pineapple
15 g of flaked coconut
60 g of dark chocolate with 92% cocoa
30 ml of oil (2 tablespoons)
a pinch of yeast
a pinch of salt

How to prepare the carrot and chocolate cake

Heat the oven to 160 ° C, lightly oil the molds or cover them with parchment paper.

Sift the rice flour, cocoa, and yeast in a bowl (do not overdo it with the dose of yeast, just a pinch, an excessive dose would give the cake a chemical flavor and would not be healthy).

Coarsely chop the walnuts with the mixer with the pulse function so as not to overheat it.

Coarsely chop the chocolate. with the mixer with the pulse function so as not to overheat it.

Cut the apricots and pineapple into pieces, soften them by adding hot water until they are completely covered. In about 15 minutes the fruit will be completely soft, drain and store the soaking water.

Wash the carrots, brush them well (avoid peeling them, there are many vitamins in the peel), cut them into slices and chop them coarsely, but not too much, in a mixer with softened dried fruit. (The carrot, although the protagonist of the cake, must not feel too much in the dough, use the pulse method to chop carrots and softened dried fruit in order to continuously check the texture. The cooking time of the carrot cake is relatively short , at max 45 min, and in any case not sufficient for cooking grated or chopped carrots too large).

In a bowl combine the rice flour, cocoa, baking powder, flaked coconut, walnuts, chocolate, carrots, dried fruit , salt and 90 ml of dried fruit soaking water (surely there will be more a little more don’t throw it away, use it for smoothies or anything else, 60 ml is left to me), mix well.

Whisk the eggs vigorously with the oil poured flush (this procedure is essential to obtain a soft moist cake that can be kept for several days and does not make you regret the flavor and leavening power of the whipped butter).

Add the whipped eggs to the rest of the dough, stirring with a spatula from the bottom upwards so as not to disassemble the eggs.

Pour the mixture into the molds already oiled or covered with baking paper.

Bake at 160 ° C for 25 minutes if you use single-dose molds or 45 minutes if you use a cake mold.

Let cool very well before removing from the molds, it is a soft cake, it could break if removed from the mold when it is still hot.

How to accompany and garnish the carrot and chocolate cake

The carrot cake is usually garnished and with cream cheese or a glaze and very unhealthy icing sugar.

I prefer to accompany this cake with:

lots of fresh fruit,
sauces and fruit coulis that you find here
fruit creams and compotes that you find here
nuts or oilseed creams that you can find by clicking here

In this recipe the highlight is not the cheese cream or the icing, but two coconut and nut creams of your choice, also perfect for those with food sensitivities towards dairy products and sugars.

Lemon coconut cream

This cream like the classic “cheese cream” has the fresh citrus note of lemon, the rich creaminess and flavor of fresh dairy products.

75 g of fresh coconut or 30 g of flaked coconut
50 g of cashew nuts
1 teaspoon of maple syrup
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
a pinch of salt
zest of 1/2 lemon

How to prepare lemon coconut cream

Activate the cashews by soaking them for 1 hour. Read here why it is better to activate nuts and how to do it.

Drain the cashews, rinse them well and blend them with the rest of the ingredients (or add the ready-made cashews cream to the rest of the ingredients).

Coconut cream with hazelnuts

Hazelnuts go perfectly with carrots. In addition to using them in the cream, they can also be reduced in grains in the cake dough by replacing them with walnuts. You will get a soft dough, but with a crunchy note. This version is usually very popular with children.

75 g of fresh coconut or 30 g of flaked coconut
30 g of hazelnut cream

How to prepare hazelnut coconut cream

Activate the hazelnut. Read here why it is better to activate nuts and how to do it.

Drain the hazeknut, rinse them well and blend them with the rest of the ingredients (or add the ready-made hazelnut cream to the rest of the ingredients).