Baked: Agbalumo-Carrot Cake

Today, I have three stories & recipes to share on and with Agbalumo – Success with an awesome chutney, A’yt and outright ‘Fail’. Here’s to delicious cake first.

Long dreamt of and easily made was this cake. See that orange nugget – top right hand of the wedge of cake below? That’s a piece of dried Agbalumo.

All the ingredients required are in season – Agbalumo, Carrots, Oranges. 

Agbalumo here is used in two forms – pureed and dried (chunks).

Everything about this cake was great – the ease of making and baking, the texture and taste – carrots grated such that they didn’t completely give way when baking. A bit chewy.

The Agbalumo  was nice, but not very present. It appears that Agbalumo loses some of its flavour when cooked in small bits and combined in a mixture. The texture of the dried fruit was there – a touch chewy but not all of the flavour. 

Large chunks worked in the Tarte Tatin – the integrity and flavour of the fruit were preserved. Here…they almost got lost. One thing that occurred to me was the fruit might not have been dry enough. 

I particularly enjoyed tossing the grated carrot, orange zest and Agbalumo chunks into the flour. 

What a brilliant idea – this way, they are evenly distributed in the batter.

This was a great recipe to try and much enjoyed. Some adjustments to make to get a stronger sense of Agbalumo but a worthy effort.

Agbalumo - Carrot Cake

2015-03-10 14:39:48

A delicious carrot cake featuring cardamom and nuggets of flavour from Agbalumo. My version adds Agbalumo - a fruit indigenous to Nigeria and skips the vanilla essence, simply because I forgot. I also make everything by hand - though the original calls for a mixer.

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup sugar - white & brown
2. 2 eggs
3. 2 cups plain (white) flour
4. 2 teaspoons baking powder
5. 1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom / powder
6. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 2 cups carrots, shredded
9. 1/2 cup Agbalumo chunks
10. Zest of 1 orange
11. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
12. 1/4 cup yogurt, plain
13. 1/2 cup Agbalumo puree

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C
2. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan
3. In a large bowl, whisk sugar and eggs until combined
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon and salt. Add carrots, agbalumo chunks and orange zest - toss to coat
5. Combine oil, yogurt and agbalumo puree
6. You'll alternate the flour and yogurt-oil-puree mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. This gives the cake a good texture
7. Begin with flour mixture - add a third to the egg mixture. Stir. Add 1/2 the yogurt and oil. Repeat with another 1/3 of flour, followed by the remaining yogurt mixture. Stir and finish with the flour, stirring till just combined
8. Pour batter into the pan and bake until golden, about 45-50 minutes
9. The edges should pull away from the sides and a skewer set in the centre should come out clean
10. Allow cool and serve as you wish

By Kitchen Butterfly

Adapted from Food52.com

Adapted from Food52.com

Kitchen Butterfly https://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/

So there you have it – Agbalumo Carrot Cake, best enjoyed by the wedge.