Last weekend was my Dad’s 65th birthday, so the whole family was at Mum and Dad’s to celebrate. My nephew has recently started on the elimination diet, so my Mum wanted to make a cake that he could have and was thinking of a carob cake. I’ve been making chocolate cakes for my Dad’s birthday since I was a kid, and having recently discovered the best ever carob cake recipe I offered to make it. I found the original recipe on Food.com, which was called “The Ultimate Carob Cake” developed as a Feingold recipe. I was a bit dubious about the title but was really amazed when I tried it.
Oscar calls anything brown “chocolate” so he told everyone I was making a chocolate cake. When my niece asked if I was making chocolate cake and told me she and her brother couldn’t eat chocolate, I explained that it was a special chocolate cake without chocolate. and it was.
This cake is so light and moist and will keep for several days (if there is any left!), and it has a really lovely flavour. I halved the amount of sugar in the original recipe and used half wholemeal flour, I also substituted decaf coffee for the real thing. I used an old-fashioned jam and cream filling and topped it off with the carob butter cream icing from the Friendly Food book. The result was delicious and it received lots of good comments.
Best Ever Carob Cake with Jam and Cream Filling
Print recipe
| Serves | 8-12 |
| Prep time | 1 hour, 40 minutes |
| Cook time | 30 minutes |
| Total time | 2 hours, 10 minutes |
| Allergy / Intolerance | Amines, Artificial Addititives, Artificial Colours, Glutamates, Preservatives, Salicylates |
| Suitable for | RPAH Elimination Diet - Low Chemical / Failsafe |
| Meal type | Dessert, Sweet Things |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold |
| Occasion | Birthday Party, Casual Party, Formal Party, Picnic, Special Occasions |
Ingredients
To assemble:
- 1 heaped tablespoon icing sugar (sifted)
- Pear jam (Refer to recipe)
- 1/3 cup thickened cream
To decorate:
- 85g unsalted butter or Nuttelex (at room temperature)
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 1/2 tablespoon raw carob powder (sifted)
For the cake:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoons instant decaf coffee
- 1 cup plain white flour
- 1 cup plain wholemeal flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup raw carob powder
- 1/2 cup sunflower or rice bran oil
- 1 cup low fat milk
- 2 Large eggs
Directions
| To make the cake: | |
| 1. | Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line two 20 cm round cake tins. |
| 2. | Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and set aside. |
| 3. | In a large bowl sift together the flours, sugar, carob, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, adding the husks back in. Make a well in the middle for the wet ingredietns. |
| 4. | In a separate bowl combine the oil, milk and eggs. Pour into the dry ingredients. |
| 5. | Start to mix in the wet ingredients then add the coffee and mix vigorously until well combined. The mixture will be very "wet". |
| 6. | Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer placed in the centre comes out clean. |
| 7. | Allow to cool slightly in the pans then turn onto a wire rack to coll completely. |
| To assemble: | |
| 8. | Once the cake has cooled, spread a thick layer of pear jam over one of the cakes. This will be the bottom cake, so level off the top if it is very rounded.) |
| 9. | Beat together the cream and icing sugar until thick. Spread over the jam. |
| 10. | Place the second cake on top, then make the icing. |
| To decorate: | |
| 11. | Beat the butter, sugar and carob until light and fluffy. |
| 12. | Add the water and beat until well combined. |
| 13. | Spread the icing over the top of the cake and around the sides. |
| 14. | Store in the fridge if not ready to serve, and bring it out about 20 minutes before serving to come up to room temperature. |
Note
Low Chemical / Failsafe
This cake is very moist and light and keeps well for two to three days. It also makes very nice cupcakes (bake for 15 to 20 minutes) and can be made as a single (very) large cake (bake for 50 minutes) and decorated with sifted icing sugar.
Refer here for my pear jam recipe.
Happy Birthday Dad. We love you!
This cake IS fabulous. I discovered the same recipe and make this cake as Easter egg shaped muffins for my nephew every year as he doesn’t tolerate chocolate.
What a great idea Emma-Jane.