Egg-free Microwave Carrot Cake

American cartoonist Jim Davis said ‘Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.’ I remember this when I see carrots, zucchini, pumpkin and any cake. This recipe is for mini carrot cake made in a microwave. It also happens to be Egg free and can be veganized easily. The whole process takes about 10-12 mins including the preparation, baking and resting time. Eating time differs from person to person. It takes 2 mins for me to attack and devour!

My fiasco with microwave baking is worth sharing. This happened donkey years ago when I was in high school. I’m giving away my age now. The first time I saw a microwave was in my Aunt’s place. It was a new kitchen appliance that sounded fancy. And the ‘oven’ part is what drew me into using this for baking. I had no clue on how it worked. Confidently, I went on to bake a cake following the only recipe I knew back then. A chocolate cake. When baking was done, with glee I opened the door and pulled out the glass tray. There it was a dense, dark brown, rubbery disc which didn’t qualify as anything edible. With a sheepish grin I binned that ‘whatever’ ‘so called’ cake. Since then I’ve limited my microwave cooking to boiling water and reheating food.

This is the second MW recipe after the brownies. Easy and quick to make.

Makes 3-4 small ramekins or 2 tea cups or 1 large coffee mug. Triple the quantity to make a small 4 inch round cake. 

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1/3 cup All purpose flour or pastry flour
• 1/8 cup brown sugar, tightly packed plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 cup organic carrots, finely grated
• 1 tbsp organic raisins or currants
• 1 tbsp pecans or walnut
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp chai masala or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg
• Pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt * vegan option – use any citrus juice
• 1 tbsp walnut or vegetable oil * Do not use olive oil as it smells strong
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract *optional

Method

Wash and finely grate the carrot. Half a large carrot will make 1/4 cup.

Combine and stir the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix both until the dry ingredients disappear. Do not over mix. Else the cake will be dense.

Pour into 3-4 small ramekins. I used 4 oz canning jars. Half fill the ramekin. The mixture boils vigorously in the microwave. Do not over fill as the mixture will spill over. Microwave at high (100% power setting) for 2 mins. Sprinkle some sugar over the half baked cakes, and run the microwave for another min or till done. You can choose to skip this step and microwave for 3 mins or till done.

Now waiting for these to cool is the toughest part. Let it cool for a min or two before you dig in. Go ahead if you intend to burn your tongue like I did.  This cake is moist and satisfying for the number of ingredients and work it demands.

Enjoy a mini dessert in minutes.