Tuesday 23 February 2010

GOLDEN CARROT CAKE LOAF

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We may not be  swimming in gold medals, but the Games aren’t over yet.  Today I watched Women’s Ski Cross and was elated to see Canadian McIvor win gold.  It was a race with a lot of upsets and wipe-outs.  It was  very enjoyable to watch.
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I’ve been soaking up the Olympic spirit recently and have thus been absent from posting, but I’m having too much fun to be worrying about  keeping up with posts (sorry, y’all).  Going downtown and everywhere else by our rapid transit system isn’t so bad.  We even walked all the way down to Granville Island from our house on Sunday because it was so sunny. 

As you can see, the cherry blossoms are out and though it doesn’t bode well to not have snow as a Winter venue, it sure is lovely for the tourists walking about downtown and in the long queues.  I think there’s practically a line-up for everything.   There’s so much free stuff to do, but of course some of the waits are too much for us to even attempt with a 3 year old and a 6 year old.
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The line-up for face painting at Granville Island was about an hour.  Bib had Miga,
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the Olympic mascot painted on her face while Bebe had Sumi on her face.  They thought it was worth the wait.
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We saw on Sunday, the now Olympic Gold champions Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue perform their Original Dance.  They were so graceful, poised and athletic.  It just makes you so proud to be a Canadian! yay Canada!  Prior to that, we also saw Norway squashed 8-0 by Canada in the preliminary game and haven’t been disappointed by the patriotic and amazing atmosphere everywhere.  Everywhere you go, you see people with something Canadian on them:  Olympic mittens, scarves,  Canadian hoodies, jackets and red clothing; maple leaf tattoos and it goes on and on.  It’s so neat to see us ordinarily innocuous Canadians display such overt patriotism. 
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Since I’m so pressed for time because of going to all these cool events and milking all the free (actually I pay my taxes, so maybe not so free) Olympic activities, I’ve made a carrot cake which is speedy to make and will be speedily eaten.  It’s moist and it’s healthy; with an Olympian portion of additional fibre.  Though of course, you wouldn’t think it’s healthy because the healthy part’s hidden.  And I’ve further embellished it with a vanilla icing drizzle.
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Look, it’s the “crusties”.  Apparently, according to my Crusties Poll on the sidebar, people overwhelmingly LOVE the Crusties.
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I’m calling this my “Golden Carrot Cake Loaf” because well, I’m hoping for more Gold for Canada of course!
GOLDEN CARROT CAKE WITH VANILLA ICING DRIZZLE
  • 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons oat bran
  • 2 tablespoons ground golden flaxseed
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • approx. 5 carrots, peeled and grated to make 1 1/2 cups (6 oz; 170 g) [I used my food processor to grate the carrots quickly]
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degreesF.  Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray and line the bottom with parchment.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  Mix in flaxseed and oat bran.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar.  Add oil, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and continue to beat until combined.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the mixer batter.  Beat briefly to combine and until flour is absorbed into the batter.  Add carrots and beat until distributed evenly in batter.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake on the centre rack in the preheated oven for 65-75 minutes or until done.
  6. Cool cake in its pan for 10 minutes.  Loosen sides with a knife and turn out onto a rack set over a sheet pan to continue cooling. 
  7. Prepare Vanilla Drizzle while the cake is cooling:  In a measuring cup, mix together the drizzle ingredients until smooth and there are no lumps.  Slowly drizzle the icing back and forth across the loaf.  Allow to continue cooling on the rack.  The excess drizzle with be caught on the sheet pan.
VANILLA DRIZZLE ICING
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • enough milk to create a drizzly icing: start with a tablespoon and add a little at a time, stirring until of desired consistency

17 comments:

Zurin said...

O Yum YUM YUM.... the cake looks so delicious and moist!!! I love carrot cakes...theyre very popular here. Nice face painting too!!!^^

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

real good cake with some sweet pics....lovely....

Y said...

Lovely cake! I've been missing most of the Winter Olympics, as the coverage isn't terribly good here unfortunately.

Manggy said...

Ha ha! Maybe you ought to give the olympians some of this gorgeous cake to ensure their enthusiasm ;)

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a lovely cake. What could be more appropriate than a "golden" cake for the Olympics? Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I have really enjoyed visiting your blog. I'll be back often. Have a lovely day.

Cakebrain said...

Zurin,
The face painting rubs off so easily, unfortunately!
Vanilla,
thanks, I hope you make it!
Y,
Well, the Olympics is all us Vancouverites have on the brain right now! We have excellent coverage. Hope you catch some highlights!
Mark,
I think that is a capital idea, but I don't think my cake would get past security!
Mary,
So far, so good...crossing my fingers!

Heather said...

Do you think I could double the recipe and make it in a bundt pan? Looks so good!

Cakebrain said...

Hi Heather,
I don't see why not! I do that sort of stuff all the time. Go for it! I would imagine you'd have to keep an eye on it to check for doneness, but it should turn out really well!

Trissa said...

Go Team Canada! I can totally understand your getting caught up in the Olympic spirit! What a wonderful tribute to the Olympics too - that cake looks amazing!

Lot-O-Choc said...

Ooooh wow this looks good!! I'm not too big of a fan of carrot cake but this looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

Recipe is printed and ready to bake! Thanks for sharing this - it looks delicious and healthy!
Wasn't that just an amazing 17 days! Like you we spent some time downtown and really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the crowds! I'll always remember how wonderful the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was!

Cakebrain said...

Trissa,
I am thinking it a coincidence that Canada came out with the most gold? hmmm...
Natalie,
Ordinarily, I don't eat carrot cake because of the nuts or raisins in it. So there's no nuts or raisins in this one!
Michelle,
It's not over until the Paralympics are over! I'm going to watch those too! yay Canada!

Chef Fresco said...

We love us some carrot cake and are always on the hunt for new recipes. This one was our favorite.

Christine Ho said...

Yummy carrot cake loaf! Carrot cake is very classic and popular. We love to have it all the time.

Pity said...

wow, it really looks delicious, cant wait to try it, cheers from london

Tiffany said...

ohhh yumm! i have to try this! lovely blog by the way! :)

Unknown said...

I absolutely LOVE carrot cake! And my mom makes the best one! I must do a post on it someday! All hail the Crusties!

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