If you love Christmas spices you'll love this carrot Christmas loaf cake. All the festive flavours you could ever want and a portion of veg too.
As you do when you write a blog called Sneaky Veg I've long been wondering whether you can sneak vegetables into a tea loaf - and it turns out you can.
I first made this in December, so I added lots of dried fruit and mixed spice to this one to make it taste really Christmassy. But to be honest you could make this any time of year.
My kids love this cake so much. It's:
- chewy
- flavoursome
- filling
- spiced
And I love it because it contains a portion of veg!
Use up Christmas cake leftovers
This Christmas tea loaf is great for using up random leftovers from your Christmas cake such as candied peel, mixed dried fruit and dark brown sugar.
Make it vegan
Since first making this recipe I have become a vegan. I've tested an egg and dairy free version of this carrot tea loaf and have included the adaptations in the recipe below.
At the same time I experimented with using coconut sugar instead of muscovado sugar to make this a little healthier.
Ingredients
To make this loaf cake you will need:
- 20 g candied peel
- 150 g butter, or dairy free spread
- 150 g dark muscovado sugar or coconut sugar
- 175 g carrots
- 2 large eggs beaten, 2 x flax eggs (see recipe below)
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 100 g mixed dried fruit currants, sultanas, cranberries
- 1 tablespoon milk, dairy free if vegan
Other tea loaf recipes
- Earl grey tea and rhubarb loaf cake
- Pumpkin spice tea loaf (vegan)
- Banana malt loaf
- Christmas banana bread
- mini carrot cake loaves
Or you might like these mincemeat crumble bars.
See my favourite carrot recipes and get some cooking tips.
How to make carrot Christmas loaf cake
For full recipe, ingredients and quantities go to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
This Christmas loaf cake is very easy to make. All that you need to do is mix all the ingredients apart from the dried fruit together in a bowl and beat well. Once it's well mixed you then add the dried fruit and candied peel and mix again. The longest part of the job is grating the carrots. If you have a food processor with a grater use it here! Alternatively if you have a child who loves to help in the kitchen get them to do it (pointing out of course that graters are sharp!).
Read more about why it's a great idea to cook with your kids.
Once everything's mixed together it needs to bake in the oven for about an hour and then you just need to leave it to cool before you tuck in. I hope you enjoy my carrot Christmas tea loaf!
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Please do not reproduce this recipe without permission.
Carrot Christmas loaf cake
Ingredients
- 20 g candied orange peel chopped
- 150 g butter or dairy free spread softened
- 150 g dark muscavado sugar or coconut sugar
- 175 g carrots peeled and grated
- 2 large eggs beaten or 2 x flax eggs (see notes)
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 100 g mixed dried fruit currants, sultanas, cranberries
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C(fan)/180°C/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper.
- Place the butter, sugar, carrots, eggs, flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl and beat well until blended.
- Add the candied peel and dried fruit and stir in well. If necessary add the milk to loosen the batter. Spoon it into the tin.
- Bake in the oven for around an hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. This took around an hour and ten minutes in my oven.
- Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. If making the vegan version leave to cool in the tin completely before turning out.
Notes
- To make two flax eggs you'll need 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (linseed). Add 6 tablespoons of cold water, stir and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
- Nutritional information is approximate and is intended as a guide only.
Nutrition
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Mia
AMAZING! It was delicious and moist, super easy to make too! I reduced the sugar to 100g and added apricots instead of candied orange.
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Mia - I am so happy to hear how much you loved this recipe! It's one of our favourites too.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
I love tea loaf and carrot cake so I can see how the two would go together perfectly. I love how you have given it a Christmas feel with the spices and dare I say it, I think I would actually prefer this to a Christmas cake. Thank you for sharing and hosting #CookBlogShare x
Mandy Mazliah
It's much lighter than a Christmas cake yet still has the flavours. Let me know if you give it a go!
Emily @amummytoo
Looks lovely - I adore carrot cake. Thanks for linking up to #recipeoftheweek. Have Pinned and tweeted this post and there's a fresh linky live now 🙂
Sneaky Veg
Thank you