Carrot Coffee Cake Made Healthy?!?!

Another week goes by. Been a relatively fast week I suppose. Last weekend seemed like a blur; being away really makes time go by so much faster. This last week was the 3rd last week of school. 2 more to go. 3 non-cumulative 2 cumulative tests left. April 19 can't come any sooner. That's my last exam during exam period, and it has to be a 7pm one. At least it's non-cumulative.

With so little time left to school, I really should get going on my studying and bonus assignments. Instead, I have taken the last hour off. Baking, cleaning the kitchen, sweeping the floor. And now writing. I figured I'm going to have to get up soon anyway to take the carrot cake out of the oven, I might as well do something else so I don't interrupt my studying too much. I still have to make my way to the liquor store to return some bottles. I also had plans to do the recycling. I also had a thought of going for a run because it is clear blue skies outside. I have managed to stay in all day still. It's almost 4pm. All these beautiful plans never really work out... Ah well.

Even though there's so little time left for school and the fact that I'm not doing the best in any of my classes, I'm surprisingly not that stressed about it. I'm just kind of coasting through. Doing what I can. Not getting enough sleep still. There are some things that are worth trading off for sleep sometimes, like talking until 2am with an absolutely incredible guy even though you know you have to get up in 5 hours.

Let's cut to the chase shall we?

The kitchen right after I have put the cake in the oven.

Carrot cake. It sounds healthy right? The moist carrot cake with the thick white frosting sitting on the shelf in a bakery that's calling your name every time you walk by is healthy right? It has carrot in it! Well... I'm sure it's not news to any of you, that deliciousness may sound healthy because it has carrot in it, but it is a sugar butter concoction of happiness. Yes, I'm happiness, it makes me happy. But, since we can't be having sugary butter concoctions all the time, I have devised a healthy, gluten-free version. I also added some icing onto half the batch for my gym buddy Branwen. She has driven me to and from the gym countless times and this is my little something for her. And since we go to the gym, I can add the icing sugar on top for an extra kick.

Iced carrot coffee cake for Branwen!

Again, I came up with this recipe all on my own and crossed my fingers praying it will work. And it did!

Gluten-Free Carrot Coffee Cake


Total time: 50 min
Actual working time: 10 min
Oven temp: 350F

Note the size of the carrot!

1 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely grated carrot (about 1 medium)
1/2 can of crushed pineapple, drained (14 oz can)
3 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp oil

1. Mix all the dry ingredients (flours and such).
2. Mix in the carrot and pineapple, coat it thoroughly.
3. Beat the eggs then add all the rest of the wet ingredients and beat together lightly.
4. Mix the wet into the dry ingredients until just mixed together.
5. Pour mixture into a greased 9" square pan
6. Bake at 350F for 40min

Voila!

**I was totally going to add raisins and I was an airhead today and completely forgot. If you do add raisins, it'll add a little sweetness to it too. Be sure to microwave the raisins in some water and let soak until they're plump before you add them!

NOTES FOR IMPROVEMENT:
1. Add them raisins if you don't want to add more maple syrup.
2. Save the pineapple juice, reduce it so it thickens a bit. Poke some holes in the cake right when it comes out of the oven, then drizzle the concentrated pineapple juice for extra sweetness and moisture.
3. Perhaps add a little more yogurt (1/4 to 1/3 cup) if you want real moist cake.

Happy healthy eating!

I took this piece out as soon as it came out of the oven :)

First baking of the year- Pseudo Black Forest Cake Roll

Ok, so the photo isn't that great. I blame it on the fact that I don't have my DSLR with me on holiday, and I didn't bother editing the photo. And maybe the fact that I didn't follow the recipe exactly. Lesson number one of 2012: follow the damn recipe! Well, sometimes. This recipe was inspired by my craving for cake roll. I grew up on it in Hong Kong. LOVE IT! The spongy cake and the delectable whipped cream all around the center. Who can say no to that? Mind you I can't say no to food. But still, that does not say anything about the deliciousness of this cake. The verdict was: my dad ate two 1 inch slices... on two separate occasions, in one day. This means daddy is ready for some bigger pants, and that it was pretty good.

The cake itself was just the right texture and sponginess. Along with the whipped cream and strawberry jam layer, making it not really a black forest cake but close enough (hence pseudo). It did taste like a black forest cake, I swear! There were 2 mistakes I made. Number one: not rolling the cake when it came right out of the oven like the recipe said. That is why it's all crackalackin' and not so roll shape. Number two: sprinkled on too much cocoa on the rolling parchment paper-- it made the outside of the cake a bit too powdery.

So here is the, what I think, would be improved version of the recipe I used:
(original recipe from foodismylife.wordpress.com under chocolate swiss roll)

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberry jam

Oven temp: 375F
Baking time: 12-15 minutes depending on the oven
Total working time: 45 minutes
Total time until cake eating: 2.5 hours

THE CAKE:
1. Line a cookie sheet or 9x15 inch sheet pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper.
2. Sift flour and cocoa together 3 times (I'm never much of a sifter, but in a cake like this, you need to sift!). Set aside.
3. Whisk together eggs and sugar until well combined. Put whisked mixture over a double-boiler. Continue to whisk until mixture is frothy and warm to touch (original recipe said baby's milk temperature-- I'm 20, I don't know what baby's milk temperature is)
4. Take egg mixture off the heat. Beat with electric beater until 3x the size. Basically until you can draw a temporary smiley face- one that last about 3 seconds.
5. Fold flour into eggs in 3 separate batches. *Note- it was rather resistant to mix. Be patient, don't worry about completely incorporating each batch until the very last batch. Just be sure to not over mix, or else you will get a flat cake.
6. Mix some of the cake batter with the melted butter until just about incorporate, then mix it into the big batch.
7. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan.
8. Bake at 375F for 12-15 minutes. (Mine took 12 and it was in a convection)-- Meanwhile, prepare another sheet of parchment paper- sprinkle with some icing sugar.
9. Once the cake comes out, flip onto new parchment paper and roll the puppy up. Careful, it will be steamy hot!
10. Let the cake cool.


WHIPPING CREAM AND ASSEMBLE:
1. While the cake cools, whip up the whipped cream- Whip the cream until slightly frothy, then add icing sugar and vanilla. Whip at slow speed until icing sugar is incorporate- if you go fast, you'll end up with icing sugar everywhere.
2. Whip the cream until stiff.
3. Once the cake is cool, carefully unroll.
4. Spread a layer of strawberry jam on the rolled up side of the cake- as thin or as thick as you like.
5. Spread the whipped cream on top of the jam. (The cream will kind of mix with the jam, I tried to avoid it, it just wouldn't stay clean... dirty dirty whipped cream)
6. Roll the cake back up using the parchment paper. Make sure you roll it tight enough so that it comes together, but not so tight that you get whipped cream coming out on the ends.
7. Keep the cake in the parchment paper. Put it in the fridge. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR AN HOUR OR TWO! Or you'll have not so nice cake.


Those are the slices. You can see the cracks in the cake from me not rolling it right away. You can also see the over-coverage of cocoa. But otherwise, the swirl of whipped cream and chocolate cake= AMAZING!

Enjoy! And again... HAPPY NEW YEAR!