A "Cake Keeper" Super-Delicious Wholewheat Carrot Cake

I must confess...When I first read the name of this cake, my eye brow raised. After baking and eating this cake, I'm fully convinced that this cake lives up to its name.

This recipe comes from the book, Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen wing and I are happy owners of this book. We all look forward to bake the cakes in this book and have decided to bake this carrot cake for this bake-along.

For months, I have this great impression of a beautiful carrot cake made by Sue from Munchkin Munchies and I've decided to decorate my carrot like what she did. For this cake, I've made fondant carrots and crushed half of a digestive biscuits to use it as "dirt". My son is very impressed with this carrot cake especially the mini "carrots".

 

 

Here's the recipe from the book, Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. 

(with my modification in blue)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dark rasins (I use sultana instead)
2 cup peeled and grated carrots (about 4 carrots)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 160°C, fan forced). Coat an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray and dust with flour, knocking out any extra. (I line my baking pan with baking paper only.)

2. Whisk together the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the eggs and then the milk. Stir in both flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt until combined. Stir in the walnuts, raisins (sultanas) and carrots.

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 min. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 min, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares and serve.

4. Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days

I use half the recipe to make 8 small squares using a 10 cm x 20 cm loaf pan and bake the cake at 160°C, fan forced for 35 min.

Here's the decoration tips from Munchkin Munchies (with my modification in blue)

marzipan (I use rolled fondant instead)
orange gel food coloring (I use a mixture of yellow and red gel paste)
5 chocolate wafer cookies, very finely ground (I use digestive biscuits instead)
fresh carrot greens (reserved from carrots for cake) (I use green colour sprinkles instead)

With a toothpick, add a dash of food coloring to the marzipan (fondant) and knead with fingers to combine, continue until desired shade is achieved.

Shape a teaspoon (or 1/2 tsp if you want a smaller carrot) of marzipan (fondant) into 12 balls, and place on a clean work surface.  Using your hands, roll each piece back and forth (I had better success rolling it between the palms of my hands) to form a 2-inch log (1-inch for my carrots). Using your fingers, shape one end of each log into a tapered point to form a carrot shape.  Use the tip of a skewer or toothpick to make a small hole at the top of each carrot.

Using a paring knife, make small grooves across (working down) the surface or each carrot. Carrots can be kept at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to one week.

When ready to serve, roll carrots in cookie crumbs, lightly brushing of excess, and insert carrot greens (green sprinkles) into the holes.

To assemble, brush cake surface with warmed golden syrup. Sprinkle cookies crumbs lightly on the cake and place carrots on top of crumbs.

Happy Baking and enjoy the cake.
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