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Carrot Cake with Cider and Olive Oil

From: smittenkitchen

2 1/3 cups (290 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) table or fine sea salt
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder (I prefer aluminum-free)
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground or a bunch of gratings of whole nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
3/4 cup (145 grams) dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup cider (235 ml, see buying suggestions below)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated carrots from about 9oz (2 to 2 1/2 meaty/large or 4 to 5 slim; about 255g) whole carrots
Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray for baking pan

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan* with olive oil or a nonstick cooking spray. If yours is old and you’re nervous about the cake sticking, it cannot hurt to line yours with a fitted rectangle of parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, cider and vanilla. Stir grated carrots into wet ingredients until evenly coated, then stir wet ingredients into dry just until no floury bits remain.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out batter-free. Let cool in loaf pan for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove from pan and cool the rest of the way on a rack. Loaf should keep at room temperature for a few days, and longer in the fridge. It’s even more moist on the second day.

Whatever you do, definitely avoid making a cream cheese frosting-like spread whipped together from 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extra and 6 tablespoons powdered sugar, some of which can be replaced with honey or maple syrup but will make for a softer spread. It will unquestionably compromise this cake’s dairy-free status. It might be dangerously good.

Notes:

Apple cider: The cider I used here (sometimes called sweet or “soft” cider) is different from both apple juice and the hard, or alcoholic, fermented apple cider. It’s a fresh, unfiltered (it has sediment), raw apple juice — the juice literally pressed from fresh apples. The farmer’s market bottles are usually unpasteurized and must be refrigerated because they’re perishable. In the Northeast, I usually find it at farm stands and some grocery stores. I was convinced you couldn’t find this anywhere in the UK until I went there last year and a very dedicated shopper found a product called “cloudy” apple juice that was sold pasteurized but tasted remarkably like what we call apple cider, and from which we successfully made these heavenly caramels. Regardless of all this, I think a regular apple juice would work just fine here, it just has a less complex flavor.

Whole wheat variation: This cake is so dense and moist, I think it would be easy to start with a 1/3 to 1/2 swap of whole wheat or white whole wheat flour without compromising a whole lot. Plus, then it’s totally perfect for breakfast, right?

*Loaf pan vs. cake size: As I mentioned in the post, this loaf, once baked, uses the whole cake pan. My loaf pan is exactly 9×5-inches (top measurements, base is tapered in/smaller) and holds 6 1/4 cups liquid (to the brim). If yours is even a little smaller, I highly encourage baking a little of the batter off as muffins, rather than risk overflow. If you’re nervous, you can also use a foil-lined pan underneath the loaf pan to catch any messes.