Carrot Crown Cakes

Carrot with a hint of orange is a delicious combination, and children love the fairy-cake sized potions – just right for smaller fingers to hold.

Serves: 24

Dietary: milk-free, nut-free, vegetarian

Contains: wheat, gluten (flour, baking powder, oat milk), egg

May contain: sulphites (sultanas)

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time:15-18 minutes

INGREDIENTS

125 g carrots, grated (about 2 medium carrots), plus 2 for decoration

1 Tbsp (10 g) icing sugar, sifted

1 ½ cups (200 g) self-raising flour

¾ cup (100 g) self-raising wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

zest 1 orange

1 egg, large, beaten

5 Tbsp (75 g) demerara sugar

½ cup (75 g) sultanas

1/5 cup (50 g) hard vegetable fat, melted

1 cup (250 ml) oat milk, unsweetened, fortified

Line two 12-hole mince pie tins with fairy cake Pre-heat oven to 200^oC
Toss grated carrot in icing sugar to
Sift flours and baking powder over carrots.
Stir in sugar, sultanas and orange
In a different bowl, beat together egg, vanilla, oat drink and melted vegetable
Stir wet and dry ingredients together, but do not over-mix.
Spoon into cases and bake for 15-18
Cool on wire racks
Once cool, peel the carrot and use a peeler to shave off an extra-thin slice. Top each cake with a strip or two curled into a ‘crown’ shape.

This recipe has been donated by Catherine McNeill, Registered Associate Nutritionist

Total calories: 90 kcal

Fat: 2.1 g

Saturated Fat: 0.7 g

Carbohydrate: 15 g

Total sugar: 6.5 g

Fibre: 0.8 g

Protein: 1.8 g

Salt: 0.22 g

This recipe was adapted to reduce the amount of added sugar used and use sultanas to enhance the sweet flavour.
It also includes some wholemeal flour, adding a slight nuttiness to the flavour. Including dried fruit adds sweetness with the wholemeal flour also adds fibre and

Using fortified vegetable fat with the carrots makes these little treats a good vitamin A precursor (beta-carotene) source.

If a child is avoiding dairy products, it is vital to ensure that any replacements used (e.g. oat milk) are fortified with at least calcium, preferably with iodine and B₁₂ as well. These nutrients are vital for growing children. The fortification replaces these essential nutrients that may otherwise not be adequately provided by a dairy-free diet.

These cupcakes are also a good source of vitamin D and calcium. Perfect for little bodies.

More strongly flavoured plant drink alternatives could be used for exciting flavour
Try replacing the sultanas with other dried fruits such as apricot or dates
Using lime zest rather than orange gives a ‘zingier’ fresher taste that some children may like.
Nutmeg is often used with carrot cakes – try adding a little into this one to see how the flavour changes.