Celebration Post – Super moist, Venetian Carrot Cake

Yippie Yay! this is my 200th recipe post on Keli Paan and I am so glad that my plans to post a something baked succeeded. Yes, I have been planing this post for a while now. The plan was to indulge & celebrate with a good cake.. It’s such a wonderful feeling writing this post.. Feels like it was just the other day..! Now, I am at the 200th post.. when I now look at few or rather many of my vintage posts, I feel what was I thinking ???.. the photographs are atrocious..!! There is no concept..! It made me think, if I should let them stay or re-do them.. What do you guys think?? Do leave a comment.. I would love to know your thoughts! I’m not claiming I have turned into a master at photography.. I’m still learning the art of food styling… The posts help me see the transition my blog has gone through. I do see I have gotten better from the time I have started.. 🙂

When I was reading about Carrots cakes, I got to know that they came into existence because sweeteners were scarce & expensive during the medieval period. Since carrots & beets contain more sugar than most other vegetables, carrots were preferred. These cakes were huge in the United States in the 1970’s.. it was considered a novelty.. But then it go so popular that it became a standard dessert across the country. In a radio survey conducted in 2011, in the UK rated Carrot cake came out as the favourite & why wouldn’t it be? they are just so wonderful. I have always eaten store-bought cakes. Never tried making one at home.. I had picked up lovely looking fresh juicy carrots from the store yesterday for this.

This recipe is an adaptation of Nigella Lawson’s Venetian Carrot cake recipe. I baked a smaller cake though.The moment I had seen this recipe, I fell in love with it.. No flour, no milk & even them you get such a lovely moist cake.. ! There were all my favourite ingredients.. Pine nuts.. I’m a huge fan of these tiny silky nuts… !!! Fresh carrots, ground almonds, Rum!! yes, this cake has rum.. & sultanas which are cooked in rum.. The fragrance of simmering rum cooking the sultana’s is wonderful.. 🙂 Ground nutmeg adds jus the right flavour to this cake.. it just gets your senses reeling.. Though it might not be the prettiest cake you have seen around.. I always say that something has to look good to make it appealing, specially when it comes to food.. but then here do not go by the looks…! 🙂 I tried to make it look as pretty as possible :).

Notes:
1. I used normal sultana’s ,though the recipe calls for golden sultana’s..
2. The most popular icing on this cake is the cream cheese icing. I did not want a sweet overdose, hence I skipped it.. 🙂
3. I used a silicone cake pan. Use a springform cake tin if you have one.
4. This cake will seem to be shallow. Wont be higher than 2 inches. This cake does not rise like other cakes, you will notice a small rise though.

Ingredients: (Serves 6 )        Preparation Time: 60 mins
Pine nuts – 30g,
Carrots – 2, medium-sized, hand grated, If you’re using a food processor, do not turn it into pulp. It should still have strands.
Dark Rum – 40 ml
Golden Sultana’s – 30g
Golden castor sugar – 80g
Pure Vanilla extract – 1/2 tsp
Olive oil – 50ml + for greasing
Ground almonds – 100g
Nutmeg – 1/8 – 1/4 tsp
Eggs – 1 large/ 2 small
Fresh Lemon zest – 1/4 tsp
Fresh Lemon juice – 1/4 tsp

Method:
Take a small saucepan & soak the sultana’s in the rum before you start.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C. Meanwhile, line the base of a cake pan, preferably a springform tin with grease-proof paper. Grease the sides with some olive oil.

Lightly toast the pine nuts on a fry pan without any oil, till they turn golden brown. Keep aside.

Grate the carrots & take out the excess water from them by wrapping them around kitchen towels. Keep aside.

Now bring the saucepan with the rum & sultana’s to a boil over medium heat. Simmer & cook for a couple of minutes.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the sugar & oil. Use a hand mixer/ stand mixer if you have one because you need to mix till they turn creamy & airy. Add the vanilla, eggs, almond meal/powder, nutmeg, grated carrots & the sultana’s along with the rum. Fold all these ingredients in using a spatula.

Note: Nigella does not add the rum which is left behind. I did. So you can choose to do what you please. 🙂

Finally add the lemon zest & juice. Mix.

Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan. The batter, like I mentioned will seem shallow because it’s not a tall cake. Use a spatula, preferably a silicone spatula to even out the top of the cake. Since I added the left over rum my batter was not as solid, hence I did not need to do that. Sprinkle the toasted Pine nuts around.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until you see a golden hue on the cake with a slight rise. Check using a toothpick, it may be come out a wee bit sticky, but that’s alright.

Cool the cake on a wire rack.

Let it sit for 10 minutes or so before you spring it out of the tin. Now cool further.

I’m sorry to say I did not get down to clicking more pictures of the preparation process..  was a cloudy day & did not get enough sunlight for good pictures while I was mixing & preparing the batter.. Luckily the sun came out for  a bit when the cake was out of the oven. I must say I got lucky.. 🙂 

Oh by the way, this serving plate is a prized new possession now.. 🙂 I had to own it, the instant I saw it….. 🙂 I’m in love with the little pink & red hearts..!! It can just pep up anything you serve on it.. 🙂 That’s how I made this cake look pretty.. !!

Serving Suggestions:
Serve a slice with some cream cheese mixed with some rum & icing sugar on the side if you wish.. 🙂

You can save this cake for 3 days tightly wrapped in cling film & stored in a air-tight container.

If you like this recipe, then you may also like – Summer fruits Compote sandwiched between Sponge cake.., Coffee Banana loaf Cake with Coffee ganache frosting, Dark Chocolate & Mocha Cheesecake with Rum…, Plum Cake etc.

 

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