Carrot and Walnut Cake
Aperçu
A single-layer carrot loaf with toasted walnuts and cinnamon, made with oil rather than butter. No country is claimed. Carrot cake is European in origin, descending from medieval carrot puddings made when carrots were among the cheapest sweet things available. The walnuts are the point of difference from a plain carrot cake, and they earn their place for texture as much as flavour. A carrot cake is soft throughout, the grated carrot keeps it moist and there is nothing in it to bite against. Chopped walnuts break that up, and toasting them first, which most recipes including this one leave implicit, roughly doubles what they contribute. Using oil rather than butter is not a shortcut either. Oil is liquid at room temperature where butter is solid, so an oil-based cake stays soft when cold, which is why carrot cakes keep well for days while butter cakes stiffen. That is worth knowing if you are baking ahead. Two problems with the source. Its method calls for grated lemon zest that appears nowhere in the ingredients. And its servings figure of three is not credible for a full loaf tin, eight is realistic. This page and the South African carrot cake elsewhere on the site are different recipes for a similar cake, and are flagged as such.
Ingrédients
Les mentions alimentaires sont fournies par les contributeurs à titre indicatif. Elles ne sont pas vérifiées par AFN et dépendent des produits que vous achetez. En cas d’allergie grave, vérifiez vous-même chaque ingrédient. Cuisine, allergies et votre propre jugement
Préparation
- 1
Set the oven to 170°C, fan-assisted, and grease and lightly flour a loaf tin.
- 2
Whisk the sugar, sunflower oil and eggs together in a large bowl until well combined.
- 3
Whisk in the grated lemon zest and vanilla extract.
- 4
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, grated carrot, chopped walnuts, cinnamon and salt.
- 5
Work the dry mixture into the wet a little at a time until you have a smooth batter.
- 6
Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level the top with a spatula.
- 7
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- 8
Let the cake cool in the tin before turning it out and slicing.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Sarah- Toast the walnuts before they go in. Ten minutes in a dry pan or a warm oven roughly doubles what they bring to the cake.
- Grate the carrot finely. Coarse shreds stay visible and release water unevenly through the crumb.
- Oil rather than butter is why this keeps well. Do not substitute butter unless you intend to eat it the same day.
- Do not overmix once the flour is in. Carrot cake is forgiving, but developed gluten still makes it tough.
- Cool it fully before slicing. A warm carrot loaf crumbles under the knife.
- Cream cheese frosting is the obvious addition. This version is deliberately plain and works as a teatime loaf without it.
Questions fréquentes
Why use oil instead of butter?
Because it changes how the cake keeps. Oil is liquid at room temperature while butter is solid, so an oil-based cake stays soft when cold, whereas a butter cake firms up as the fat sets. That is why carrot cakes remain moist for days and why nearly every carrot cake recipe uses oil. The trade-off is flavour, butter tastes of something and oil does not, which is why carrot cakes lean on cinnamon and spice instead.
Should I toast the walnuts?
Yes, though the recipe does not say so. Ten minutes in a dry pan or a warm oven drives off moisture and develops the oils, which roughly doubles the flavour they contribute and makes them noticeably crisper against the soft crumb. Untoasted walnuts in a moist cake go soft and taste faintly of nothing. Let them cool before chopping, or they will crumble.
How many does it serve?
About eight, as a loaf. The source says three, which is not a realistic figure for a full loaf tin of cake and appears to be an error rather than a very generous portion size. This is the sort of discrepancy worth noticing before scaling a recipe up for a crowd, the ingredient quantities themselves are correct for one standard loaf.
How is this different from the other carrot cake on this site?
They are different recipes for a similar cake. This one is a single plain loaf with walnuts, made with oil, with no frosting. The other is a South African three-layer version with treacle sugar, mixed spice, an orange juice soak and cream cheese frosting. Both are worth having, though they do compete for some of the same searches, which is noted in the flags for this page.
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