Baking with Vegetables: Natural Sweetness with Less Refined Sugar
Vegetables can bring surprising sweetness to baked goods. When grated and mixed into cake batter, carrots and courgettes release their natural sugars during baking, creating a moist texture and subtle sweetness that reduces the need for refined sugar.
Carrot cake has long been popular at teatime across the UK. It bakes up soft and satisfying, with a flavour that feels almost fruity despite containing no fruit at all. The recipe adapts well to lower sugar baking, using honey as the primary sweetener. While honey is still classified as a sugar under UK dietary guidelines and affects blood sugar similarly to refined sugar, it allows you to avoid processed white sugar entirely.
Courgette cake is less well known but deserves more attention. Grated courgettes behave much like carrots in baking, producing a moist crumb and mild flavour. Courgette cake provides an alternative with a comparable texture and a gentler taste that some find preferable.
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This version produces a filling, moist cake with plenty of flavour. The walnuts add texture and a slight crunch. For those with nut allergies, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds work as substitutes, or simply omit them altogether.
Ingredients:
- 200g butter
- Five tablespoons honey
- Four large eggs
- 500g grated carrots
- 150g chopped walnuts
- 300g plain flour
- Two teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of salt
- One teaspoon ground allspice
For the filling and topping:
- 250g cream cheese
- Four tablespoons apricot jam sweetened with sweeteners rather than sugar
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C, 350°F, or gas mark four. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
Melt the butter and honey together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until combined. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth.
Stir in the grated carrots and chopped walnuts. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and allspice. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Avoid over mixing.
Pour the batter into your prepared tin and bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow it to cool in the tin for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cake has cooled, prepare the topping. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then fold in the jam. Spread the topping over the cake, or slice the cake in half horizontally and use some as a filling before covering the top. Using it as both filling and topping creates more defined layers, while topping alone gives a cleaner finish.
Adapting the Recipe for Courgette Cake
To make a courgette version, simply replace the grated carrots with the same weight of grated courgettes. Squeeze out any excess moisture from the courgettes before adding them to the batter, as they tend to hold more water than carrots. You may need to reduce baking time by five to ten minutes, so check earlier with a skewer.
The resulting cake will be slightly lighter in colour but just as moist. The flavour is milder, which some people prefer. You can adjust the spices to suit your taste, perhaps adding a little cinnamon or nutmeg instead of allspice.
Both versions keep well in an airtight container for several days. Store in the fridge if you have used the cream cheese topping, and bring to room temperature before serving for the best texture. For food safety, consume within three days when storing with fresh cream cheese.
