Carrot and walnut loaf

Image 1: Carrot and walnut loaf, sliced

Food synopsis: Soft and moist quickbread with nice thin crust on all 4 sides of each slice, containing shredded carrot and plenty of crushed walnuts with each bite. The aroma of olives complements and brings out the walnut-y flavour, a divine combination with the springy, moist bread. Each sweet slice is great toasted warm or as it is.

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This recipe was adapted from a carrot cake recipe. But upon seeing that the carrot cake recipe needed 1 cup of oil, I decided to cut it in half to avoid making such an energy dense food.


So, the loaf turned out like this instead (See Image 1). Tasted really good with really great texture. Soft, moist, springy. Great olive and walnut aroma. The crust on all sides was absolutely perfect for freshly baked bread - which I attribute to the low oven temperature at the start and then the increased temperature in the 2nd half-hour in the oven. The scientific theory of this I remember learning from Food science and skills in 3rd year, but had never actually applied it in real life and see that it really works.

Even though I call this a bread, there's no yeast in this. I think the combination of the moisture from the carrot makes this loaf moist and soft since there was no liquid added nor a lot of fat/oil, whilst the baking powder and the method of beating the egg whites with sugar (hence incorporating more air into the batter) helped make this bread rise.

The large-grated carrot was also a good idea. The carrot cake recipe called for finely grated, but having the roughly grated carrot meant that you could actually see the pieces of carrot in the slices, so you actually know you're eating something with carrot in it.

Cons: For a cake, I think it rose too much. The original recipe called for 1.5tsp baking powder, and for no particular reason expect convenience in accessing a spoon that I know has a volume that is exactly 2.5 tsp, i put in 2.5 tsp baking powder instead. Although, thinking about it as a loaf of bread, I think it rose well, and enough. But as a cake, definitely need to tone down the baking powder to achieve that flat, hardly risen top surface.


Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hr in oven (160C for first 30min, 180 for second 30 min)


Ingredients
1/2 cup (68g) white sugar
22g (i.e made up to 90g) cinnamon sugar premixed
1/2c extra virgin olive oil
1 1/3 plain flour
13g (2.5 tsp) baking powder
2x 8cm long carrots - grated using large grater, approx 1.5c grated carrot
1/2c roughly crushed roasted walnuts

Method
1. Using electric beater, beat eggs and both sugars until frothy. Should be about 4x its volume, takes about 5 - 6 minutes on a medium speed. During this time measure out the oil and set aside for step 2, and measure out flour and baking powder and set aside together in a bowl for step 3
2. While the beaters are still running, add in all the oil. Keep beating fro 3 - 4 minutes
3. Stop the electric beaters. Dump in flour and baking powder. Use electric beaters to mix until combined. Takes about 1 - 2 minutes.
4. Once the flour has been integrated into the batter, add handfuls of grated carrot until all added (whilst machine is still mixing). Mix for 1 - 2 min or until combined, no need to over mix
5. Stop the machine. Add walnuts and mix with a spatula
6. Prepare a rectangular tin and line with baking paper that has been cut to size. Use scissors to cut diagonally from the corners of the baking paper to the the base of the tin. Put batter into the lined tin
7. Bake at 160C for 34 minutes, then 180C for 26 minutes. (Total baking time: 60 minutes)
8. Once out of the oven (see Image 2), remove from tin. Leave the loaf to cool on a cooling rack, after removing baking paper. The paper can be reused if carefully wiped clean.

Image 2: Carrot and walnut loaf just out of the oven

To serve:
Slice into 1.5 cm slices, or to desired thickness to suit your appetite or toaster.