The other night, I really wanted to try out making some carrot and apple cake, but I’d run out of apples. Hmm. Instead, I decided to mix lots of things together that I like into some muffins, and the result was pretty good. They’re really moist (I added ground almonds in place of some of the flour), a beautiful orange colour and I think do the carrots justice. They’re not as dense as some carrot cakes that are around, either. I didn’t use any frosting but I’m sure they’d be great with some mascarpone with orange zest on top. I’ll also get around to trying the apple and carrot version one day!
Makes 8 muffins
125g butter at room temperature
125g light brown soft sugar
100g plain flour
30g ground almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
50g dried fruits – I used a mixture of raisins and sultanas (really big ones)
A handful of almonds
A couple of handfuls of walnuts
Zest of one orange
A tablespoon or two of the juice from said orange
1 egg
About 150g carrot (or mixture of carrot and apple), grated
Preheat the oven to 170 (fan) and line a couple of tins with muffin cases.
Cream together the butter, sugar and zest until it’s light and there are no grainy sugar bits left. I like to add the zest in at this stage because I think the beating brings out the lovely orangey-ness. Add the egg and beat again.
Chop the nuts roughly (don’t leave any really big bits but I quite like mine to be relatively chunky) and add these and the fruits into the flour, cinnamon, ground almonds and baking powder. Mix these dry ingredients into the butter, sugar and eggs gradually. You don’t need to worry too much about being very careful as it’s quite a heavy cake mix.
Then add the grated carrot and mix well to ensure it’s all evenly distributed. Depending on how juicy your carrots are, you might want to add a bit of orange juice in at this point.
Divide the mixture between the cases – they will rise a bit, so don’t fill them too full – and bake for between 25-30 mins.
Note: depending on the juiceiness of your carrots, you might need to add a bit of milk to your cake batter. Just play it by ear and make sure it's thin enough that it falls off the wooden spoon!
Makes 8 muffins
125g butter at room temperature
125g light brown soft sugar
100g plain flour
30g ground almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ tsp baking powder
50g dried fruits – I used a mixture of raisins and sultanas (really big ones)
A handful of almonds
A couple of handfuls of walnuts
Zest of one orange
A tablespoon or two of the juice from said orange
1 egg
About 150g carrot (or mixture of carrot and apple), grated
Preheat the oven to 170 (fan) and line a couple of tins with muffin cases.
Cream together the butter, sugar and zest until it’s light and there are no grainy sugar bits left. I like to add the zest in at this stage because I think the beating brings out the lovely orangey-ness. Add the egg and beat again.
Chop the nuts roughly (don’t leave any really big bits but I quite like mine to be relatively chunky) and add these and the fruits into the flour, cinnamon, ground almonds and baking powder. Mix these dry ingredients into the butter, sugar and eggs gradually. You don’t need to worry too much about being very careful as it’s quite a heavy cake mix.
Then add the grated carrot and mix well to ensure it’s all evenly distributed. Depending on how juicy your carrots are, you might want to add a bit of orange juice in at this point.
Divide the mixture between the cases – they will rise a bit, so don’t fill them too full – and bake for between 25-30 mins.
Note: depending on the juiceiness of your carrots, you might need to add a bit of milk to your cake batter. Just play it by ear and make sure it's thin enough that it falls off the wooden spoon!
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