I think I have just written my own recipe or altered someone else's!

[Nicknamegrief]

OK so I've being messing around with a carrot cake recipe and I think I've finished with it ... I've made it and it tastes quite good to me, anyone fancy giving it a try and feeding back?

I apologise for using cups, they drive me mad in recipes.

Orange, carrot (or butternut squash if you have it) and raisin.

Dry Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup of soft brown sugar
2tsps baking powder
1.5tsps bicarbonate
2 tsps of cinnamon
1 cup of raisins.

Mix in bowl.

Wet Ingredients

1.5 cups of sunflower oil
3 large beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 clementines (boiled for an hour and puréed, remove pips but blitz skin and all)- you can use a couple of oranges but this can give the cake a bit of a bitter after taste.

Mix in jug

Carrots/butternut squash 2.5 cups

Add wet to dry and mix, add carrot and mix.

Pour into lined tin and bake in preheated oven (gas 4 180oc or gas 5 if your oven runs a little cool). Bake for an hour but it may need about 15 extra minutes.

Anyway I'd be interested in some feedback.

Thanks in advance

Ok queries before I try this (we have some extra squash sitting around):

• so you take 3 clementines, put them whole(?) in boiling water and then boil for an hour and then how to remove pips while boiling hot before blitzing? I'm just imagining trying to peel these little molten balls of lava to extract pips before blitzing...

• carrots or squash - 2.5 cups grated?

• how big a cake tin?

• do you think the recipe would make good muffins?

PS No salt at all? Usually for a carrot cake with 2 cups flour I would add 1 tsp salt...just making sure you meant not to list any salt.

Think you can get the same effect of the boiled clementines by microwaving them for a few minutes. Pierce skins and microwave in a closed vented container for 6 minutes depending on size of orange, turning the orange half way through. Cool before removing pips and pureeing.

I didn't use any salt- what would adding it do? May give it ago.

Sorry it's 2.5 cups of grated carrot/squash.

Am rubbish on sizes of cake tins, I used by brownie tin and its quite deep (8 by 8 inches at a guess at least an inch deep).

I did let my clementines cool before cutting in half and removing the pips. I puréed it skin and all. Never tried microwaving them (don't own a microwave) but great tip.

I think they could work as muffins.

Really hoping it works for everyone. A good way to get 3 tastes of your five a day.

Thanks for the feedback

How much carrot is 2.5 cups, roughly? 3/4 large?

Thanks for the detail OP - I'll give it a go with soworn's microwave technique.

Salt brings up the taste of everything - if you leave it out, baked things usually taste a little flat as there's nothing to balance the sweetness of the sugar. I find it's particularly useful in carrot or beetroot cake or zucchini bread as it really highlights the taste of the vegetable.

Will try it with salt next time...

I do smoked salted brownies but you are meant to get the tang of salt with that.

I reckon 3/4 carrots would be about right. I had loads of little ones which was a faff and I can't even recall how many of those I peeled.

I never add salt to baking and have never found it affects the flavour. It's very easy to get used to everything having salt in it. Much better to wean yourself off that.