A classic healthy carrot cake baked with fragrant cardamom, macadamia oil and pecan nuts. Inspired by the Indian dessert Gajar Ka Halwa, this beautiful cake makes a great afternoon dairy-free treat!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time55 minutesmins
Course: Baking
Cuisine: Dairy Free, Indian, Modern Australian, Vegetarian
Keyword: carrot cake, carrot pudding cake, gajar ka halwa, healthy carrot cake, indian carrot cake, spiced carrot cake
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 9-inch round springform tin (or a 23cm X 14cm loaf tin) with baking paper.
Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs and beat for another few minutes. Sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg over the sugar mixture. Add carrot, pecan nuts and sultanas. Mix with a silicone spoon until well combined.
Pour cake batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 55-60 minutes until golden and cooked through the middle when tested with a skewer. (If the cake is still a bit wet in the middle, cover it with foil and continue baking for another 5-8 minutes.) When done, turn off the oven and allow the cake to rest in the oven for 5 minutes before pulling it out and cooling completely in the tin.
Slice and serve. Great toasted for breakfast or warmed in microwave and served with a dollop of ice cream for dessert. Cake slices freezes well wrapped in baking paper and packed in freezer safe bags/container. Will keep at room temperature in a cool corner of your kitchen for 2 days (upto a week if stored in the fridge).
Notes
Rapadura Sugar - Rapadura sugar is unrefined palm sugar. It is brown and has a rich caramel tone and flavour. It can be replaced with coconut sugar or regular brown sugar.
Macadamia Oil - This is a beautiful nutty oil that is great for baking. Can be substituted with rice bran oil or light-flavoured olive oil.
Spelt Flour - Bleached or unbleached spelt flour renders a rustic quality to the bake. Can be substituted with regular flour.
Pecan Nuts - These go really well in this cake along with the spices. Other good nut substitutes are almonds, pistachios or brazil nuts.
Troubleshooting An Undercooked Cake - With this cake, because the fat and liquid content is quite high, sometimes when the carrots are extremely fresh or the eggs are larger, I find the cake to be a tiny bit wet in the middle at the 55-min mark. In this case, I continue baking it for another 10 minutes by covering the top with foil to avoid it from getting too brown. If you have baked for the said amount (55 minutes) and pulled out the cake, checked for doneness, let it cool and it still had a wet spot; don't worry. Slice the cake up, pop it back in the tin with the baking paper and bake for 5-10 minutes with a foil on top to even out the wet spots. Works like a charm every time!