Carrot And Tahini Cake

Amarante

Mon, Oct 31 2022, 10:35 am

This is a very non-traditional carrot cake. I wouldn't say any cake is "healthy" but this one is relatively healthy and healthier than the more traditional carrot cake so it is a nice snack cake to have around. Not difficult to bake and ingredients are generally pantry. Tahini added an interesting under taste.

This is a European recipe so I had to convert to US ounces but weighing ingredients for baked goods produces a better result as even in America, the best recipes for cakes and even cookies use weights instead of cups especially for flour whether the volume can vary and impact the outcome.

It was good but then no cake lasts for long in my house unless it is frozen and wrapped in dark covers. LOL

Interesting that carrot cakes were an Ashkenazi gift to classic American cake making. Very Happy

Carrot And Tahini Cake

Excerpt From: Anne Shooter - Sesame & Spice

This recipe was inspired by a carrot cake I ate in Israel, which had a crunchy blanket of seeds on top instead of cream cheese frosting. Carrot cake is thought of as an American invention, but – you guessed it – it was actually brought to the US by Eastern European Jews who used carrots to sweeten cakes instead of sugar. It was the Americans who put the frosting on top, so I am remaining perfectly true to my roots by taking it off again.

Serves 16

100g sesame seeds
300g soft brown sugar
180g tahini
4 eggs, beaten
100ml sunflower oil
50ml olive oil
3 tbsp date syrup or honey
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
130g plain flour
50g wholemeal flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
350g carrots, peeled and grated
150g walnuts, roughly chopped
100g sultanas or raisins
100g sunflower seeds
100g pumpkin seeds
butter, for greasing

Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas 2. Grease a 23cm cake tin with butter. Pour around two-thirds of the sesame seeds into the tin and roll and tap the tin to coat the insides with seeds.

In a large bowl, mix the soft brown sugar with the tahini, eggs, oils, date syrup or honey and the orange zest and juice. Sift the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg on top and stir to combine. Add the carrots, chopped walnuts and sultanas or raisins and stir again until everything is well mixed.

Pour the mixture into the tin. Mix the remaining sesame seeds with the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and scatter over the cakes in a thick layer, totally covering the batter.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then carefully remove and cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Adding picture since it doesn't resemble the normal carrot cake.