Moist and bursting with flavours from spices, vegetables or fruit, nuts, coconut and vanilla, this foolproof cake can be eaten as is or enhanced with a deliciously, smooth and creamy Cream Cheese Frosting.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 180°C/200°C/400°F/Gas 6
Tip the nuts onto a baking tray and cook in a pre-heated oven for 5 - 10 minutes giving them a stir half way through. Remove from the oven and tip onto a plate or into a bowl to prevent them cooking further.
Remove any optional extras for decorating the cake
When you take the nuts out of the oven, turn the heat down to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Whilst the nuts are cooking, collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and remaining ingredients.
A)If you would like some chunks of nuts in the cake, place ⅔ of the rest of the nuts in the food processor and blitz until the they are the texture of ground almonds, OR
B) If you do not want any chunks of nuts in the cake, place all of the rest of the nuts in the food processor and blitz until the they are the texture of ground almonds
Add the vegetables/fruit and blitz until broken down.
Add the wet ingredients – the oil, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla and blitz until thoroughly mixed.
Now add the dry ingredients – the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, spice powder(s), salt, sugar and coconut/oats. Pulse until nearly mixed in.
Then add any remaining nuts. Pulse briefly to mix in and slightly chop. Alternatively, fold into the batter by hand. Be careful not to over-mix at this stage.
Either:
A) Transfer the cake batter equally into lined and greased baking tins (See Recipe Notes.) OR
B) Line a muffin tin with 16 paper cases and fill each paper case until around ⅔ full or roughly 60g of cake batter per cupcake.
Cook in the centre of the oven until the cakes are cooked.
This should take:
20 cm/8 inch round - 30 - 35 minutes
18 cm/7 inch round - 25 - 30 minutes
Cupcakes - 20 - 25 minutes
They are cooked when:
– the centre feels slightly springy when lightly touched
– a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean
– the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin. (Round cake tin only - not cupcakes)
Take out of the oven but leave in the tins for 5 minutes before removing the cakes and transferring to a cooling rack.
If icing: leave to cool completely.
If serving as muffins: they are best served warm.
Equipment:
Balancing the cake tins:
No food processor?
If you do not have a food processor, I recommend you use ground almonds instead of any other nuts and you can grate the vegetables or fruit using a box grater. Combine the nuts, vegetables/fruit and wet ingredients with a whisk or beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Fold in the dry ingredients.
If you only have a small food processor, you can blitz the nuts and either blitz or grate the vegetables/fruit and make up the cake by hand as explained directly above.
4 EGG VERSION FOR 3 x 20cm/8 inch ROUND LAYERS OR 4 x 18cm/7 inch ROUND LAYERS OR 28 - 32 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS
For the vegetable/fruit and nut mix:
Wet ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
3 EGG VERSION FOR 3 x 18cm/7 inch ROUND LAYERS OR 21 - 24 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS
For the vegetable/fruit and nut mix:
Wet ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
2 EGG VERSION FOR 2 x 18cm/7 inch ROUND LAYERS OR 14 - 16 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS
For the vegetable/fruit and nut mix:
Wet ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
1 EGG VERSION FOR 1 X 18 cm/7 inch LAYER OR 7 - 8 CUPCAKES/MUFFINS
For the carrot and nut mix:
Wet ingredients:
Dry ingredients: