Celebration Carrot Cake

by Susan Smith in


I’m not cut out to be a landlady. I used to think that renting out property in an era of low interest rates would be a savvy way to create a retirement income. I’ve changed my mind. Firstly, I don’t get to retire because owning rental property isn’t so much an investment as a business. Secondly, the reason there aren’t many, if any, beautiful, immaculately maintained houses ‘To Let’ is because the majority of tenants, no matter how well you vet them, will trash rental property rather than treat it as their own. Worse still, in our namby pamby society legal ‘rights’ favours the tenant over the landlord, so if your ex tenant is willing to lie through their teeth to avoid paying for the damage they’ve caused, you’re forced into a dispute that takes weeks of wearisome effort pulling all the evidence together in order to prove your loss. It’s such stuff and nonsense that has kept me from posting Primal Plate recipes for the past couple of months. The good news is that I’ve finally been afforded some time and respite to get my blog back on track before seeing my ex-tenants in court! And, on a happier note, we’ve now appointed Sarah to be the sole custodian of a fabulously refurbished property. Lucky, lucky girl!

Accordingly, this wonderfully tasty, nutritious carrot cake made its star debut at a family get-together last week to celebrate Sarah moving to her new home, to mark a milestone birthday, to wish “bon voyage” to someone special fulfilling his lifetime ambition to visit Australia and not least for me to honour some creative time back in the kitchen. Everyone unanimously agreed that it was “The best cake you’ve ever made!” I concur. Enhanced by orange zest and warming spices, Celebration Carrot Cake has an autumnal feel that’s made extra special with the most delicious Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramelised Pecans. With more than a passing nod to the 1960’s, Primal Plate’s Celebration Carrot Cake is an updated, healthy version of classic carrot cake. It’s the perfect expression of all that I love about eating Primal. A delicious, seemingly indulgent cake that’s impossible to resist but with no grains, no gluten, no refined sugar and less carbs than a small banana! For the sweet-toothed and health conscious, I think that’s something to celebrate in its own right.

Celebration Carrot Cake (Serves 12)

Ingredients for the cake

80g unsalted organic butter (or coconut oil), melted + extra for greasing

3 tbsp organic maple syrup            

200g organic ground almonds 

100g organic tiger nut flour

1 tsp organic nutmeg, freshly grated            

1 tbsp organic ground cinnamon    

1 tsp gluten-free baking powder

¼ tsp Celtic sea salt    

5 large organic eggs, room temperature            

2 tsp pure vanilla extract                     

3 large organic carrots, peeled & finely grated (you should end up with about 250g prepared carrot)

75g raw organic pecans, chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 large organic orange

 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

200g organic cream cheese

3 tbsp organic maple syrup

1 tbsp Sukrin icing sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

185 ml organic double cream

 

For the Caramelised Pecans - optional

40g raw organic pecans (or walnuts)

1 tsp organic maple syrup

½ tsp organic coconut oil

 

Instructions - to make the cake

Pre-heat the oven to 190℃ / 375 ℉ / Gas mark 5

Grease well and base line 2 x 7 inch loose-bottomed sandwich tins (to save time, I use Lakeland’s baking parchment ready-cut liners)

In a small saucepan over a low heat melt the butter (or coconut oil) and maple syrup together. Take off heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the ground almonds, tiger nut flour, sea salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg

In a separate bowl, with an electric whisk, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract & melted butter/maple syrup mix until frothy and well combined.

Stir the carrots, orange zest and chopped nuts into the wet ingredients

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

Divide the mixture equally between the cake tins, spreading it out evenly and levelling off the top

Bake in the centre of pre-heated oven for 35 minutes

Cool in their tins for two hours before turning out onto a wire cooling tray and removing the paper discs.

Instructions - to make the Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat the cream cheese, maple syrup, vanilla essence, Sukrin icing sugar together in a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk until well combined and light and fluffy. 

In a separate bowl, whip the double cream until it stands in medium peaks. N.B. Don’t over whisk your cream at this stage because it will solidify even more when you try to incorporate it into the cream cheese mixture, which means you might end up with lumpy rather than smooth cream cheese frosting. 

With a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until evenly combined. 

Instructions - to make Caramelised Pecans

Heat a small non stick frying pan over a medium-low heat. 

Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and pecans to the pan (in a single layer) and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring and turning the nuts over occasionally, until caramelised and golden. 

Turn onto a plate to cool. 

Instructions - to assemble and decorate Carrot Cake

Transfer one of the sandwich cakes onto a serving plate or cake stand. Spread one half of the Cream Cheese Frosting on top and using a flexible metal spatula level out to just within the outermost edges to create the sandwich cake filling. 

Place the second sandwich cake directly on top of the first cake. Dollop the remaining half of Cream Cheese Frosting on top, spreading it out evenly before gently swirling the surface into a simple, decorative-looking finish. 

Decorate with caramelised pecan (or walnut) halves, if liked 

 

Carbohydrate 16g Protein 9g - per slice


Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart

by Susan Smith in , ,


This week was the start of Wimbledon (think strawberries and cream) and culminates in Independence Day (Saturday, 4th July) - think, ‘Happy Birthday’, to my beautiful daughter, Sarah! After that Mirror Imaging is into a run of photoshoots and weddings on five consecutive weekends that will keep us both busy until the end of September. So with that in mind, I really wanted to make an extra special summer birthday ‘cake’ for Sarah, not only to celebrate her birthday but also the last of our leisurely weekends for the foreseeable future!

Today, I am so excited to be able to bring something completely new to the party - a delicious summer fruit tart made with tiger nut pastry. “Tiger, erm what?”…I hear you say!

Q. When is a nut not a nut? A. When it’s a tiger nut! 

Tiger nuts, also known as ‘earth almonds’ and in Spain, ‘chufas’, are the sweet, brown, nutty, ‘super’ tubers of the sedge plant (a stubborn, weed-like grass), which is grown and harvested like potatoes. And, they are incredibly good for you. 

Truly Primal/Paleo (our early human ancestors used to forage and feast on this nutrient dense wonder food), tiger nuts have a nutritional profile that really holds its own against red meat, olive oil and even human breast milk. In fact, tigernut milk (recipe for Spanish style ‘Horchata de Chufas' coming soon) is the healthiest substitute for dairy milk because it is rich in monounsaturated fat and does not contain inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids like other nut milks do. Tiger nuts are also full of dietary fibre, particularly resistant starch, are high in minerals (magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, calcium and iron) and Vitamins C and E. Sounds to me like the under-utilised tiger nut might well be the answer to 795 million people around the world still struggling with hunger and malnutrition! 

And, in modern society, where people are often overfed and under-nourished, research suggests that tiger nuts can help reverse or stop the progression of degenerative diseases such as  diabetes, heart disease, circulatory problems, digestive disorders, autoimmune diseases and some cancers, including colon cancer.

I’ve only just re-discovered tiger nuts (they were sold as sweets when I was little) as part of my ongoing search for grain-free, gluten-free and now nut and allergy-free alternatives to grain flours. To say I’m chuffed with the way my chufa pastry lined Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart worked out, is an understatement! This new kid on the block for lovers of Primal/Paleo treats, ticks all the boxes for healthy, nutritious food that makes you glad to be alive - indeed a little bit smug - because who would guess that this gorgeous Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart would be entirely compatible with a low-carb, refined sugar-free diet?

When cooked, this tigernut pastry has more the taste and texture of a biscuit cheesecake base than it does shortcrust pastry per se, but I like this. As pastry goes, it’s very user friendly. It rolls out like pâte sucrée (French name for sweet shortcrust pastry) and was incredibly well behaved when I lined the flan case - although a chunk fell off one edge when I lifted my rolled pastry disk off the work surface, it was easy to patch up and press everything back together again with my fingers, once it was in the tin. 

Best of all, because tiger nuts are naturally sweet, you don’t need to add sugar or other sweeteners. I’ve been wanting to devise a recipe for Primal cheesecake for some time, so when I do I’m certain this recipe will double-up, adapting itself to both sweet tarts and cheesecakes beautifully.  

Meanwhile, I hope you’ll make the most of summer’s juiciest berry-fruits in this exceptionally lovely looking tart - I think summer celebrations will be the sweeter for it. 

Summer Berry & Lemon Cream Tigernut Tart (Serves 10)

Ingredients - for tiger nut pastry

225g tiger nut flour (available online from The Tiger Nut Company)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp pure vanilla essence

30g unsalted butter, melted

1 large organic egg, beaten

a little extra melted butter (about 5g), for greasing 

 

Instructions - to make the pastry case

Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉ / Gas mark 4.

Grease the base and sides of an 8 inch loose-bottomed fluted flan tin with melted butter.

Combine the tiger nut flour, baking powder and vanilla essence in a bowl.

Mix in the melted butter, then add the beaten egg and stir with a fork to combine.

When roughly combined, abandon the fork and bring the mixture together with your hand to achieve a firm but moist dough. 

Roll out to a round thickness of 3mm-6mm between two sheets of plastic cling film (to avoid the dough sticking to your worktop or rolling pin). As you roll, turn regularly to achieve an even round shape that is approximately 2½cm/1” larger than the circumference of your tart tin (this allows for the sides of the tart). 

Carefully peel off the top layer of cling film, then loosely wrap the pastry around your rolling pin removing the bottom layer of cling film as you do, then using the rolling pin to support the pastry, lift it one piece directly into the tart tin. If it splits or breaks in transition (mine did!), don’t worry, just patch it back together by pressing it firmly and evenly into the base and up the sides of the tin with your hands. N.B. Since tiger nut flour is gluten-free it’s easier to handle than normal shortcrust pastry, because it doesn't get harder and tougher if you need to re-work it. Once it’s settled in the tart tin in an even thickness, trim any raggedy bits of pastry off the top edge by going around with a sharp knife (chef’s privilege to eat these pastry off-cuts raw!)

Prick the base of the tart all over with the prongs of a fork. 

Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and crisp. Leave to cool completely in the tin before transferring to a serving plate.  

 

Ingredients - for lemon cream filling

150ml Primal Lemon Curd

150ml Crème Fraîche (I used Roddas)

150ml Double Cream

 

Instructions - to make the lemon cream filling

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens and will stand in soft peaks.

Cover and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble your tart. 

 

Ingredients - for fruit topping

250g fresh strawberries, picked over and cleaned as necessary

175g fresh raspberries 

100g fresh blueberries

A few sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm, to decorate

 

Instructions - to assemble the tart 

Not more than an hour before serving the tart, place the pastry case onto a serving plate. 

Spoon the lemon cream filling into the tart case and spread out evenly.

Arrange the fruit attractively on top of the lemon cream filling, then garnish with sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm. 

Notes

Although this tart looks like ‘fancy-pants’ French patisserie, please do not be intimidated by the recipe. Rolling out the pastry and lining the tart tin is the only challenge - and only then for the novice cook. Everything else is quick and easy to do - including making the pastry and assembling the tart. If you need to, just follow the photographs for how to arrange the fruit topping.

I suggest you make a batch of yummy Primal Lemon Curd up to several days in advance (in readiness for the lemon cream filling) and store (hide!) in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble your tart. 

I like the visual treat of using several different types of summer berries as the topping for this tart - and the particular selection I’ve chosen all marry well with the lemon cream filling. However, just one type of fruit (blackberries, cherries, sliced peaches, apricots, etc.), or any combination you like, will work. Just select the sweetest, juiciest and most visually appealing fruit you can find.

Refrigerated in an airtight container, this tart still eats really well the next day.

 

Carbohydrate 26g Protein 5g - per serving