Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ruth's Carrot Cake -Easy Microwave Version

'Eat Cake ' by Jeanne Ray talks about the life and its changes of Ruth, a mom of two.In midst of an unemployed husband,quarreling parents etc she sort of gains strength by baking cakes and that too with several and exotic variations.Well the book which contains 24 pages of recipes, is a delight foodwise and is a light read with an expected fairytale ending where all the things become right and 'you live happily ever after'. Well, eat you cake and day dream!. Out of the several recipes one I liked was 'Ruths carrot cake'.I halved it,made it eggless and spiced it up and then 'microwavized ' it and here it is


Ingredients:
Dry Mix:
Cake Flour: 1/2 cup (Substitute: 7 tbsp APF + 1 tbsp cornstarch)
Whole Wheat Flour (aatta): 1/2 cup
Cinnamon,cloves,nutmeg,ginger powdered,cardamom : generously use your choice or combo of spices: around 1/2 tsp +
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp


Wet Mix:
Yoghurt/Buttermilk: 1/2 cup OR 2 eggs
Vegetable/Canola oil: 1/2 cup
Honey :10 tbsp
(I used Honey + maple Syrup)


Carrots: peeled,grated 1.5 cups
Walnuts/Pecans/Cashew nuts: optional :1/2 cup (I used cashewnuts)

Preparation:
In a medium bowl,whisk together the dry items -cake flour,whole wheat flour,salt, baking soda,baking powder and your choice of spices.If you do not have cake flour,then you can substitute it by using All purpose flour and/or substitute it by mixing 7 tbsp of APF with 1 tbsp of for 1/2 cup of cakeflour.Cake flour makes the cake spongy and light and the substitutions work fine and I used the second one.

Peel,grate carrots and keep aside.

In a big bowl,whisk the wet items of honey,oil and yogurt together.Add in the dry mix and whisk together till well blended and a liquid batter is formed.Fold in carrots and optional nuts.I added cashewnuts.


Pour the batter in a microwave safe and completely greased container/dish -I used a heart shaped container and the batter came to a little more than half of the pan.

Microwave at 100% power (HIGH) for about 8 minutes or more until you see the cake pulling out from the edges of the container and the tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.Cool completely in the pan.Serve cutting into wedges with a frosting or whipped cream,ice cream or as such.

The cooking time depends on the machine.I started at 6 minutes but it took 2 more minutes and I pulled it out exactly when 8 minutes were completed.Also allow the cake to rest in the dish completely before cutting.I allowed it to rest just 10 minutes and then inverted it and found that an edge on the reverse side was not that browned and also the cake was crumbly.But still I proceeded with tasting and clicking pictures of the cake.The leftover cooled completely and I found that the cake looked perfect than I had clicked.So ensure that the cake rests for about 1-2 hours or let it chill in the fridge before cutting.

The recipe calls for honey instead of sugar and I used a mix of honey and maplesyrup .You can also substitute honey by using cornsyrup or mixing sugar and water and then adding it to the wet mix.If you are completely omitting honey then can remove the baking soda as well.The cake is correct tasting s honey is used and but not overly sweet .It is airy and light and little spongy due to the use of buttermilk/yoghurt.You can use 2 eggs instead of yoghurt or anyother egg replacer in which cake increase the baking soda to 1 tsp.The aroma from the oven was not that good and I was thinking it was a flop cake even afte the first bite,but second bite onwards it felt right.


Now lets see what other bookclub members have put forth and get ready for the cakefest:

Jaya was the first to post a review on the book here followed by Ann who came up with a Pista-Cardamom cake from the same book and Simran who gave a twist to the pista cardamom cake and made a tropical Almond cup cake with coconut essence!

The carrot cake is also on way to SriValli's MEC: September

19 Comments:

Bombay Foodie said...

Wow! Looks great

chef and her kitchen said...

looks moist dear..

jayasree said...

Lovely cake... Thanks for an eggless, MW version.

Sunshinemom said...

This looks tasty! My next trip to B'lore has to be a visit to your place:D

Cham said...

Our problem is we never let rest the baked goodies! My son loves the hot cake straight from the oven never bother the cake crumbling! Tasty, quick and healthy snack!

Desisoccermom said...

Great variation on the carrot cake. Never made a cake in the oven before. I think I am gonna try it.

Priya Suresh said...

Such a delicious and gorgeous cake..looks yummy..

Uma said...

lovely cake.

Red Chillies said...

good one, so glad that this is eggless and can be made in a microwave :-)

indhu said...

looks great... can we make this in an oven too? coz my microwave is completely useless :)

- Indhu (www.thayirsaadham.com)

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Texture looks great. Eggless carrot cake, and in the microwave - couldn't ask for more! :)

Couldn't make it this time either but will definitely do this one.

Ann said...

Smart - you went the healthy route - liked your review and thanks for linking me! =)

Sushma Mallya said...

looks so moist and delicious...u got a nice blog

workhard said...

Honestly in not much of a cook, at all.. but i bake all of my cakes in the microwave.. lot less trouble.. and they come out pretty nice.. urs looks delicious... i love carrot and chocolate and banana cakes..


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Suma Gandlur said...

I look usually for eggless versions of the popular cakes and thanks for this carrot cake and a simple MW version.

Srivalli said...

Thanks for the lovely cake..heart shaped looks cute!

Vijitha said...

That looks lovely!

Anonymous said...

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AK said...

Tried it today only. Thought I'd thank you. Everyone liked it. I usually make only chocolate ones. Carrot was a nice twist. A huge thank you for the quick and tasty recipe. :)

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