Carrot Dates Cake - Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year 2017!!!

My son was to reach Pune on 26^th December 2016 for his Christmas vacation… I thought I would bake a cake for him on the previous day.  In the evening, I made all the arrangements and since it was Christmas day this cake was apt for the occasion too!

I had made this cake in cooker few years ago, and this time I have made the cake in the Oven.  This  gave me an opportunity to improvise the taste and texture of the cake.

I always love to eat the cake which does not require icing to go with. Well-made and well baked cakes are all I like to bite into. Icing the cake of course is ‘icing on the cake’ :)

You can enjoy your guilt free carrot cake which has oodles of carrot and all other great ingredients that make it healthy, yet so tasty.  You can also scoop this batter into cupcake papers to make tasty carrot cupcakes, an all-time favorite with kids.

Cinnamon is a great ingredient for carrot cakes as it adds wonderful spice and aroma. I must confess, this cake tastes heavenly the next day when all the ingredients bind together…

So without wasting much of your time, let me take you to my kitchen and share the ingredients with all of you.

 Ingredients :

Grated Carrot - 1.5 cups

Maida - 1 cup

Wheat Flour - 1 cup

Condensed Milk - 500 gms

Oil - 1/2 cup (I used Sunflower Oil)

Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup (you may adjust the sweetness).  I used honey instead - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Vanilla Essence - 1.5 tsp

Baking Powder - 2 tsp

Soda-bi-carb - 2 tsp

Cinnamon Powder - 1 tsp

Nutmeg Powder - 1 pinch

Salt - 1 pinch

Dry Fruits - Almonds, Raisins, Walnut etc. - a handful

Finely cut dates - 1/4th cup

Method :

Seive the maida, wheat flour, soda-bi-carb, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg powder twice.

Combine together, condensed milk, oil, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla essence, salt and whip well.  Now add the seived ingredients to this mixture batch by batch and mix well.  Add the grated carrot, dry fruits and gently mix.  The batter should be of dropping consistency.

Pour the batter in a greased and dusted cake tin.  Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 deg till done for about 40 to 45 minutes.

Enjoy it next day!! You may also add Vanilla Ice cream and enjoy it.  What I look forward to is your feedback :)

Wishing you all a Very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2017!!