This cake is so rich and moist; you will love enjoying these fluffy and soft slices all day long! They are perfect as an evening snack, with ice cream for a decadent dessert or even as an indulgent healthy breakfast! I am a die-hard baking enthusiast and am always looking for excuses to bake something; either sweet or savory! This was one of those days. I had just got a bag full of fresh carrots from the grocery store. It had been a long time since I had made carrot cake (you must try my moist carrot cupcakes). Now, that I am mostly on a health trip, I decided to use whole wheat flour for the batter. When I was rummaging through the refrigerator to get my carrots, my eye fell on a lonely apple on one of the shelves. I am not a big fan of cooking apples (love them fresh and crunchy) but this apple begged to be used soon!
So carrot and apple cake it was! As long as I can remember, I have been using this recipe for carrot cake and it has never failed me. After years of baking, I have come to a stage in my life, where I can take the courage to innovate and change standard recipes to suit availability of ingredients. So, I decided to tweak this tried and tested recipe; halved the ingredients (no kids around to finish a large cake), used whole wheat flour for a healthy element, substituted some of the carrots with grated apple and reduced the oil considerably (hoping it would work in the cake). Well, apple has plenty of natural sugars, so I reduced the sugar drastically too (fingers crossed) and of course, to make it eggless, used sour milk (vinegar in milk; I find it gives a unique fluffiness to a cake); you can use yogurt too. I detest oily cakes, so oil was reduced too to just ¼ cup for a 9 inch cake! Whew!!! That is a lot of changes, but now the test begins!!
Once I had adjusted all the elements of the cake, it was time to bake. A quick mix of the ingredients (no beaters!)and the batter was in the oven. In between household chores, I was dashing to the oven door to see how my experiment was turning out. After about 30 minutes and a toothpick test, the cake was fully baked and the whole house was engulfed in a divine warm aroma of earthy cinnamon! Yayyy!!! All the effort was worth it and one lonely apple had found its way into my carrot cake! The tough part was waiting for it to cool. As soon as it was cool enough to cut, my Mom and I had a slice each. The cake had come out amazingly soft and moist; addition of apples had given it a very moist texture.
Please do try this decadent, moist and scrumptious carrot and apple cake and I am sure you will love it too. Just make sure to store leftovers (if any) in an airtight container in the refrigerator, especially during hot weather. I still have a couple of slices in the refrigerator which I am going to enjoy with a scoop of ice cream for dessert!
For more similar cakes, try some super scrumptious eggless cakes from my blog:
Gulab Jamun Cake Eggless Chocolate Beetroot Cake Eggless Date and Cashew Cake etc.
Let’s fill our kitchen with the amazing smell of this super soft, super moist, eggless cake!
How to make Super Moist Carrot and Apple Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Centigrade. Grease and flour a 9-inch or 8-inch pan (you can line with foil as I did and then grease and flour); keep aside.
To make sour milk, add ½ tablespoon vinegar to ½ cup of cool (room temperature, not hot or warm) milk and mix; keep aside for a few minutes. Add vanilla essence and mix again.
In a medium sized bowl, sift or better yet, whisk whole wheat flour, cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt until totally and evenly mixed. Stir in mixed nuts. Keep aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar with oil till well mixed; about 2 minutes.
Stir in sour milk or yogurt; give it a quick stir. Add the flour mixture in batches until fully incorporated and until just mixed; do not over mix.
Fold in grated carrots and apples. If you feel the mixture is too dry, stir in a teaspoon or two of milk; totally optional.
Immediately, pour the batter into the prepared pan and smoothen with a spatula. Gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes (maximum 40) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. You may see bits of cake (as long as it is not cake batter) sticking to the toothpick, but do not be tempted to bake any longer! Place on cooling rack to cool for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from pan, peel off foil and leave on cooling rack to cool completely.
Enjoy scrumptious, decadent and super moist carrot and apple cake made with whole wheat flour with your evening cup of chai/coffee, with vanilla ice cream as a dessert or even as a mid morning snack. It is so healthy; you can have it for breakfast too!
Enjoy!!
PIN or SHARE for later: Cook Time: 30 minutes
½ cup sugar ¼ cup oil ½ cup yogurt or sour milk (½ cup milk plus ½ tablespoon vinegar) ½ teaspoon vanilla essence/extract 1 cup whole wheat flour ½ teaspoon to ¾ teaspoon cinnamon powder ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cups shredded carrots 1 medium sized apple, peeled and grated (about ½ cup) ¼ cup chopped cashew nuts or walnuts ¼ cup chopped pistachios Few nuts for garnishing
Instructions Notes If you want to omit apple, use 1 ½ cups of carrot for a moist carrot cake. Double the recipe and bake in a 13x9x2 inch pan. Instead of cashew nuts or pistachios, you can use walnuts which go perfect with carrot cakes. I did not have any, so I used a mixture of cashew and pistachios. This cake is super moist because of the added grated apples, so to avoid spoilage, please store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator, especially in the summers.
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