For most bakers, the thought of having no eggs to bake with is what nightmares are made of. Eggs are kind of the back bone of most recipes. They help things rise, keep all the ingredients from falling apart and emulsify the fats in the recipe. So they really are an important part of our pantry.
But much to our dismay, there is a bit of an egg crisis looming here in South Africa after an outbreak of bird flu. Millions of birds had to be culled and the farms are being quarintined until the all clear is given. Prices are rising and we are facing some tough times.
I am really not one to usually panic.
This got me thinking about recipes that don’t use eggs, and I have had great fun reading up on substitutes and playing around in my kitchen until I came up with some really good cake recipes.
I’ll begin with this delicious carrot cake recipe. It keeps really well and freezes even better. Infact, I’m not sure if I’ll go back to adding eggs to my carrot cake any time soon, this is just that delicious.
Watch the video on my YouTube channel Everyday Baking with Grace Stevens
¾ cup of full cream plain yoghurt
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup cooking oil
1 ½ cups cake flour
8ml baking powder
3ml salt
5ml ground cinnamon
3ml ground ginger
3ml ground cloves
3ml pomento spice
2ml bicarbonate of soda
300g finely grated carrot
60g finely grated apple
60ml seedless raisins
60ml chopped walnuts
BUTTERCREAM
125 g butter, softened
250 g icing sugar
Zest of lemon
juice of half a lemon
Preheat oven to 180° C and grease a cake tin.
Whisk yoghurt, oil and sugar together until light and fluffy
Sift dry ingredients together and add to beaten mixture.
Fold in carrot, apple, raisins and nuts
Pour batter into prepared tin
Bake for 45 min or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool on a wire cake rack.
To make the icing, cream the butter icing sugar in a bowl until a firm buttercream forms.
Beat in the zest and the lemon juice.
Ice the cooled cake and decorate with more walnuts and lemon zest.
Eggless Carrot Cake
- ¾ cup of full cream plain yoghurt
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup cooking oil
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- 8ml baking powder
- 3ml salt
- 5ml ground cinnamon
- 3ml ground ginger
- 3ml ground cloves
- 3ml pomento spice
- 2ml bicarbonate of soda
- 300g finely grated carrot
- 60g finely grated apple
- 60ml seedless raisins
- 60ml chopped walnuts
BUTTERCREAM
- 125 g butter, softened
- 250 g icing sugar
- Zest of lemon
- juice of half a lemon
- Preheat oven to 180° C and grease a cake tin.
- Whisk yoghurt, oil and sugar together until light and fluffy
- Sift dry ingredients together and add to beaten mixture.
- Fold in carrot, apple, raisins and nuts
- Pour batter into prepared tin
- Bake for 45 min or until a cake tester comes out clean
- To make the icing, cream the butter icing sugar in a bowl until a firm buttercream forms.
- Beat in the zest and the lemon juice.
- Ice the cooled cake and decorate with more walnuts and lemon zest.
