reading time: 3 min
Bright yellow daffodils are popping up here in Northern Germany, the trees are starting to don their greenish spring coats, and the air is beginning to smell like pollen. And, of course, the first wild herbs like goutweed, dandelion and sorrel are spreading everywhere!
This carrot cake recipe is moist, wholesome, and packed with carrots, nuts, and aromatic spices. It came about because I wanted to create a healthier, but still absolutely delicious alternative to my scrumptious easy vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from last year. "Healthier" meaning three things in this case:
1) it contains significantly less sugar and less fat
2) it uses whole-grain flour and lots of carrots
3) and, most importantly for me personally, it comes with the benefits of hidden wild herbs!
What wild herbs, you ask?
This cake hides the young tender goutweed leaves, also known as ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria). If you want to learn more about this herb, jump over to my recipe for vegan Dutch apple pie with goutweed flowers where I talk some more about its health benefits and also how to identify it (namely, using the 3 x 3 rule). For example, ground elder leaves can be confused with the young leaves of actual elder, which are poisonous!
The reason why I got the idea to put goutweed leaves in this cake is because their flavour is often described as similar to carrot greens. In this cake, the flavour of the ground elder is very subtle and barely noticeable.
To make this cake even healthier, feel free to skip the frosting!
This carrot cake recipe is moist, wholesome, and packed with carrots, nuts, and aromatic spices. It came about because I wanted to create a healthier, but still absolutely delicious alternative to my scrumptious easy vegan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from last year. "Healthier" meaning three things in this case:
1) it contains significantly less sugar and less fat
2) it uses whole-grain flour and lots of carrots
3) and, most importantly for me personally, it comes with the benefits of hidden wild herbs!
What wild herbs, you ask?
This cake hides the young tender goutweed leaves, also known as ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria). If you want to learn more about this herb, jump over to my recipe for vegan Dutch apple pie with goutweed flowers where I talk some more about its health benefits and also how to identify it (namely, using the 3 x 3 rule). For example, ground elder leaves can be confused with the young leaves of actual elder, which are poisonous!
The reason why I got the idea to put goutweed leaves in this cake is because their flavour is often described as similar to carrot greens. In this cake, the flavour of the ground elder is very subtle and barely noticeable.
To make this cake even healthier, feel free to skip the frosting!
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