It’s practically a meal…

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…and oh so Yummy!

We have been making carrot juice a lot lately, and since we’re peeling the carrots, we’re piling up no small amount of good pulp… so… carrot cakes galore. Last week I made two pans of muffins plus two mini-loaves, which are in the freezer waiting for a road trip. Yesterday I made a recipe similar to one found in SNACKERS by Maureen & Jim Wallace called Carrot-Raisin Ring. The result was a moist, dense, sweet but not cloying delight, studded with walnuts and juicy raisins… almost like a fruitcake – only good ! Here is my version of the recipe, wheat free.

Carrot Cake Ring with Raisins and Walnuts
3 cups spelt flour

1/2 cup sorghum (milo) flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
5 eggs
1-1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil (such as sunflower)
3-4 cups grated carrots (I actually used the leftover pulp from my Acme Juicerator)
1 heaping cup raisins
1 heaping cup walnut pieces, or your preference

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a tube pan (think angel food cake-pan) thoroughly. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Beat together the eggs, honey and oil until smooth. Stir in the carrots, raisins and walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top down evenly. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top springs back when you press it, and a wooden pick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then loosen with a long knife and turn out onto a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely before slicing, which will be difficult as you’ll be smelling it for hours.

The cookbook I used for the basic recipe has been around for decades, I bought it when I worked at Sunrise Natural Foods in Coeur d’Alene, waaay back in the ’80’s. It contains my basic granola recipe (which of course I tweak to suit our tastes and ingredient availability at the time), and lots of whole and wholesome ideas for the natural foods cook. It’s a little bit dated in a way, with the use of soy flour and wheat germ all over the place (I’m kind of into oat bran myself), I usually adjust the flours to suit my own needs. This doesn’t always work, tho, as I have found spelt flour doesn’t work that well in a bread machine, and, well, life is sometimes about learning to adjust, isn’t it? You just make it work.

With a good plan – a recipe – and good building materials – healthy ingredients – the only thing needed is the will to find the way. And then it really works!

Later…