I adapted this recipe a few years ago from a recipe book that I also gifted to my assistant at the time, Marie (a lovely lady from St Lucia) She made the Carrot cake for every occasion, birthdays, Christmas, for break times when she should have been working:) The page in her book was tattered and stained. I wonder if she still makes carrot cake:)
Is it not wonderful that recipes can hold so many memories for generations to come. My mom always makes a note of the person where she gets the recipe from.
I think I should call these Marie’s carrot muffins:)
A tribute to the fittest and most energetic 70-year old that I know.
She immigrated to Britain when she was a child and was the only black child in a catholic school. She came from humble beginnings but could have a conversation with anyone. One of her daughters was an Olympic athlete. She loves bingo, dancing, and getting dressed up. She has a great sense of humour and is a great friend and mom.
I miss Marie today
I have used it in my classes, for functions, lunchboxes and have doubled up the recipe to make birthday cakes. It is packed full of vegetables and even fruit and is not overly sweet. The spelt flour gives a nutty flavour but could also be replaced by normal cake flour.
You could buy spelt flour from health shops like Faithfull to nature. Spelt is a type of wheat and spelt flour is a type of whole wheat flour made from the entire grain (bran, endosperm, germ, and all). I know, you tried whole wheat flour once, the pie crust came out dry and the banana bread was dense. But that was probably hard red wheat, which is higher in protein and more finicky than spelt. You see, each type of wheat has its own properties and flavour. In the wide world of whole wheat flours, spelt performs the closest to all-purpose white flour while bringing a lot more flavour.
Traditional cream cheese frosting recipes have high amounts of icing sugar and also butter but this frosting is only sweetened with honey and flavoured with orange zest. But it is still delicious but much lighter.
Other recipes similar to this carrot and courgette muffins are that are packed with vegetables can be found on the blog under:
These carrot muffins are moist, delicious, and not overly sweet. And packed full of vegetables.
Scale
Ingredients
180 ml olive oil 180 g spelt flour 3 eggs 120 g brown sugar 120 g grated carrots 120 g grated courgettes 90 g crushed tinned pineapple 60 g chopped pecan nuts 5 ml cinnamon 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 5 ml vanilla pinch salt
Honey, orange, and cream cheese frosting:
1 tub cream cheese (Simonsberg or any soft cream cheese) 30 ml honey (or to taste) 5 ml vanilla Zest of half an orange Extra pecan nuts for sprinkling
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180’C Fan, 200’C. Measure out all the ingredients
Measure oil in measuring jug, add egg, and whisk lightly with a fork. Add carrot, courgette, pineapple, and vanilla essence
Add the flour, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda sugar, sugar, and salt into bowl, Stir with a whisk.
Pour the contents of the measuring jug into the flour bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon,but don’t overmix.
Place the mixture into the muffin moulds using the two spoons
Place in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Until muffins are cooked Leave to cool on a wire rack
Honey, orange and cream cheese frosting
Add ingredients together for frosting and beat with an electric whisk or with a wooden spoon. If it is not sweet enough add more honey.
Spread the frosting on the muffins and sprinkle with pecan nuts
Notes
The muffins also freeze well and defrost very quickly.
Hi, I'm Ankie! Welcome to Wooden Spoon Kitchen, my pantry of life, love and health where we constantly stir laughter, learning, eating and cooking together!
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