Ms.Aadya was going to the zoo today and its sort of a tradition in this house that Mumma has to bake her something special for such occasions.I asked her what she wanted and she said,”Carrot Cake”..So,that’s what I baked. I have to tell you,it was quite an experience,cracking eggs,when I had my own cheer-leading team of midget sized people! With every egg that I cracked,the girls cheered..I whisked and they sang and danced..:) I had only just creamed the oil and sugar and Aadi wanted a taste.Nanhi didn’t like the look of the creamed brown sugar,but she threw a tantrum because only didi got to taste it!! Oh! the joys of sibling rivalry!
So,the recipe-this one calls for oil instead of butter.My mom was forever looking for ways to replace butter with low-cal options,so you can imagine her joy when a friend told her that she could replace butter with vegetable oil.Since then all the cakes in our house were made using vegetable oil.And every now and again,I play around with the basic recipe to add flavors.
Without further ado,I present :

Ingredients :

Yields 1 Glad BBQ pan (29cm X 19cms X 5cms)

3 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chilled water
2.5 cup self raising flour
2.5 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped nuts(almonds,walnuts,cashews and pistachios)
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 tsp cinammon powder
1 tsp nutmeg powder

Method:

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degs (160 fan forced). Grease and sprinkle some flour on the cake pan.

Cream the oil and Sugar together,making sure that all the lumps are broken.Add one egg at a time.Add the flour,walnuts,carrots,salt,spices and the baking soda.Mix it together gently,adding little water at a time.

Pour the batter in the baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes,till the fork comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let it cool..

Once cool,you can frost the cake and garnish it.I used Philadelphia Frosting It was divine and for garnish I used chopped nuts(walnuts,almonds,cashews,pistachios)

If you want to make your frosting from scratch,I totally recommend this recipe from Taste.com

60 gm cream cheese
30 gm butter,softened
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup icing sugar.

Place cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until pale. Gradually add icing sugar mixture, beating until combined.
So quick and it turns out so nice and fluffy..ohh yumm!

I still remember the first time I tasted a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting at starbucks in a Borders Book store in Delaware and my first reaction was..umm why cheese? But with every mouthful,I liked it a little better..and now I can’t think of any other frosting that will compliment a carrot cake as the Cream cheese.
That being said,I know my daughter and though Aadya insisted on the CC frosting,I knew it that she wouldn’t like it.I let her taste it,before I frosted the cake..she did and when I asked,she said..hmm not bad…I frosted the cake,she waited patiently and then worked her way through her piece slowly..very slowly..and then,she said,looking extremely shattered..’OK Mumma..I need to tell you the truth about the frosting..I don’t quite like it’
SD and I couldn’t stop laughing..I removed the frosting and she gobbled the cake up.
But she is like me.. she is warming up to the cream cheese.. every now and again,she wants to take a little lick of the frosting…
I heart this cake..because its so light and moist and not very sweet.Its just perfect to school snack or after-school snack or even great with the afternoon cuppa.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do..If you try the recipe,please leave me a comment tell me how you liked it:) and also send me pictures,so I can add them to my reader’s pictures page!