Natural ingredients mean that a sweet treat doesn’t always have to be a bad addition to your diet, so give this wholewheat, carrot and honey cake a whirl.
You always feel a little bit better about yourself when tucking into a piece of cake if the ingredients are natural and wholesome.
And this wholewheat, carrot and honey cake certainly hits the spot in that regard.
Wholewheat flour has all the nutrient-rich parts of the grain left in it during the grinding process so combining it with carrot and honey which provide natural sweetness results in a cake that has a lot of good to shout about.
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Wholewheat carrot and honey cake
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 85g self-raising wholemeal flour
- 85g self-raising plain white flour
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder, sifted if lumpy
- 3 medium free-range eggs
- 125ml sunflower oil or light olive oil
- 2 tbsp Rowse Clear Honey
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100g grated carrots
- 50g chopped walnuts
For the icing:
- 200g mascarpone or cream cheese
- 2 ½ tbsp Rowse Clear Honey (Greek honey and Acacia honey also work well)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Grated zest of 1 orange (optional)
Method
- For the cake, heat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a 20cm round cake tin, at least 5cm deep, with baking parchment.
- Mix together the flours, sugar and baking powder in a mixing bowl. In a jug whisk together the eggs, oil, honey, orange juice and vanilla then pour into the flour mixture along with the grated carrot and walnuts. Stir to combine, but don’t overmix.
- Spoon the batter into the tin, gently smooth out the surface and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until firm to the touch and a sharp knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
- For the icing, beat together the mascarpone, honey and vanilla. Remove the cool cake from the tin and spread the icing on top. Decorate with orange zest if using.
- For a dairy-free version, replace the mascarpone icing with an orange honey drizzle: boil the juice and grated zest of an orange with 3 tablespoons of Rowse Clear Honey for 2-3 minutes.
- Prick the cake all over while still warm in the tin and pour the honey mixture on top. Leave to cool completely.
Recipe courtesy of rowsehoney.co.uk