Fear of the carrot

As vegetables go the carrot is pretty exciting. Bear with me here I'm not completely nuts quite yet. The carrot tastes good, looks appealing and has comedy potential. It is especially scrumptious grated with apple and mixed up with a dash of lemon juice and sugar (mmmm).

However my carrot related concern is about carrot cake. I'm a big fan of carrot cake, or rather I am a big fan of good carrot cake. Mostly however I experience disappointing carrot cake. I think this is because people skimp on the carrot and add a bunch of unnecessary ingredients. I do not believe that carrot cake is improved with the addition of raisins or sultanas. Nor do you need to add so much ginger that you cannot taste anything else.

The real joy of carrot cake is that it is moist without being too heavy, the wetness of the carrots mean you do not need as much fat to create the same effect. As carrots are a 'sweet' vegetable you do not need to add large quantities of sugar. Also it has the secret health benefit of including a veg in a cake (perfect excuse for a big helping - one of your 7 a day don't you know).

I make my carrot cake with cardamom and cinnamon - rather than ginger. The cardamom has a lovely warmth and the cinnamon a bit of a punch ... but the two tastes combined are far more mellow than the sharpness that ginger gives.