While juicing has its benefits, especially if you want the quickest way to get the most nutrients into your body. However, I feel sad to throw away the pulp after that, and we talking about mountains of it every year. I always believe “Waste not, want not”.
Some of my friends use the pulp for mulching, some just throw it out, yet some have thought about cooking it. I have experimented and this cake is perfect for the pulp. You can get more fibre into your diet this way, too.
I modified a standard carrot cake for this recipe. Because of the natural sweetness normally still remained in the pulp even after juicing, the sugar in the cake can be greatly reduced. I added a bit of rum to make it taste really nice.
To be honest, I think this cake is more pleasant than a regular carrot cake sold in stalls. I can testify to that because no matter which country I go to, I will order a carrot cake if I eat at a cafe. So this cake has a lower sugar and oil content than most carrot cakes, but richer in nutrients, and guarantee to taste better (unless your homemade carrot cake is out of this world). Why not try it? You were about to throw out that pulp, anyway. It costs you close to nothing, and you have everything to gain.
The cake is really moist, easy to make and easy to eat. If you like, add a cream cheese frosting. I have included the recipe here. For convenience, I normally make the frosting and put it in a piping bag and store it in the refrigerator. When a kid wants his cake with frosting, he/she just has to frost it himself/herself, in any style he/she likes. That way, I need not put the whole cake in the fridge, which takes up too much space.
Juice Pulp Cake
Ingredients
Cake Dry Ingredients
- 325 g Self-Raising Flour
- 250 g Raw Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp All Spice
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg grounded
- 2 cups Juice Pulp preferable of harder fruits and vegetables, remove the seeds before juicing
- 200 g Chopped Walnuts
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup Milk or Unsweetened Soya Milk or Almond Milk I just use milk
- 4 eggs
- 350 ml Sunflower Oil
Caramel Topping
- 70 g Raw Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Milk
- 2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil
- 40 g Chopped Walnuts
- 1 tsp Rum optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 250 g Cream Cheese at room temperature
- 120 g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla pod or Dark Rum
- 120 g Butter at room termperature (optional)
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat oven at 160°C.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and the spices together twice, and place them into a mixer.
- Add all the rest of the dry ingredients into the mixer and on low speed, mix the ingredients.
- In a large cup or bowl, mix the eggs, milk and oil briefly, and then add that to the dry ingredients.
- Mix quickly, do not overmix or the cake will become rubbery.
- Place the cake on a medium height rack and bake for 30 minutes while you make the Caramel Topping.
Caramel Topping
- Put a sauce pan on medium heat and put all the ingredients except the walnuts into the pan.
- When the sugar has melted, add in the walnuts.
- After 30 minutes' in the oven, take the cake out and pour the caramel topping over.
- Continue baking until 60 minutes is up.
- Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth.
- Spread or pipe over cake.
