I’m so excited about this Sunshine Garden Cake. My original thought was it’s like a fruit salad cake because it has apples, dates, pineapple, carrots, gooseberries and pecan nuts in it. I was trying to create a cake with less oil and less sugar and this one turned out just perfectly. It’s also a blend of spices too with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice and loaded with full on flavour. It may sound like a fruit salad cake but it made me think of sunshine so here is my Sunshine Garden Cake. Full of healthy ingredients and reduced sugar. It’s a riff on my carrot cake and with the help of a few little magic rocket ingredients this one could be enjoyed on Mars. That’s if Elon Musk doesn’t get there first and colonise it. In the mean time, enjoy it in your garden under a beautiful wild fig tree in the dappled sunshine.
I used the dates to boost the natural sweetness in the cake when I removed a third of the sugar. I used buttermilk to ensure the moisture was balanced. The olive and pecan nut oils were what I had at hand, so I wanted to use them in my experiment. I got the balance just right too with the olive oil there to calm the boldness of the pecan nut oil.
The little magic rocket is the almond essence. Because I used less sugar, the taste of egg was bolder than I wanted it to be. Sugar helps to suppress the eggy flavour. If you reduce the sugar you need a little magic trick up your sleeve and the almond flavoured essence did its job beautifully. There is a lot of fruit, nuts and carrots in this cake too so I used a tsp of apple cider vinegar to help with the lift. For a cake so full of fruit and nuts, this truly is a great little rocket booster to get a lightness that defies gravity. The crumb was just the most perfect texture I was incredibly proud of.
Sunshine garden Cake
Ingredients
- 175 g of cake flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 200 g brown sugar
- 4 extra large eggs
- 1 tsp almond flavoured essence
- 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- 60 g pecan nut oil
- 90 g delicate olive oil
- 65 g buttermilk
- 250 g Pecan nuts toasted and chopped
- 280 g grated carrot
- 70 g grated granny Smith apple
- 3 slices dried pineapple chopped air dried pineapple
- 100 g chopped dates
Cream Cheese Icing – enough for 2 of the 4 x 15cm (6")cakes
- 165 g cream cheese
- 60 g butter
- 65 g icing sugar sifted
- 1 Tbls almond milk
- 2 tbls lemon juice and zest of ¼ lemon (optional)
Decorate
- handfull fresh gooseberries
- 5 slices dried pineapple
Instructions
- Preheat oven 180°C or 160° C fan assisted butter and line 4 x 15cm (6 inch) cake pans with baking paper
- Sift And whisk flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and spices together in a bowl175 g of cake flour, 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 teaspoon mixed spice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, Pinch of nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt
- Add brown sugar to a separate bowl and whisk in the eggs one at a time until light and creamy200 g brown sugar, 4 extra large eggs
- Add the almond flavoured essence and the vinegar1 tsp almond flavoured essence, 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- Add pecan and olive oils and mix to ensure a smooth consistency60 g pecan nut oil, 90 g delicate olive oil
- Fold in the buttermilk65 g buttermilk
- Mix in the flour mixture in 2 batches
- Fold in the fruits and nuts250 g Pecan nuts toasted and chopped, 280 g grated carrot, 70 g grated granny Smith apple, 3 slices dried pineapple, 100 g chopped dates
- Dividing mixture equally amongst 4 X 15cm baking pans
- Bake for 30 -35 minutes in preheated oven at 180°C or 160° C fan assisted
- 2 of the cakes were done in 30 min
- And the other 2 were done in 35 min
- Leave cakes in pans on wire rack for 12 minutes before removing them from the cake pans to cool
- The cakes must be cooled completely before icing
Cream Cheese Icing
- Add the room temperature cream cheese to a bowl and beat on low speed until light and fluffy165 g cream cheese
- Add the butter and continue on low speed to ensure an even mix60 g butter
- Add the sifted icing sugar and beat to incorporate into light and fluffy cheese and butter mix, now trickle in the milk and lemon juice and zest and continue to beat. If it's a very hot day, place in fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.65 g icing sugar, 1 Tbls almond milk, 2 tbls lemon juice and zest of ¼ lemon (optional)
Decorate
- When the cakes are completely cooled place one cake on a plate and cover with ⅓ of the icing. Place the 2nd cake on top and cover with a ⅓ of the icing. Use the balance of the icing on the sides of the cake. Decorate with the gooseberries and pineapple slices. A light dusting of gold powder add to the sunshine themehandfull fresh gooseberries, 5 slices dried pineapple