Sweet treats: You are on to a winner with this wholewheat carrot and honey cake

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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

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