Carrot Dates And Orange Cake

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups Plain Flour (maida)
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1 inch piece Cinnamon
• 6 Cloves
• 6 Cardamom
• 1/2 tsp Grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup Semolina (rava)
• 2 cups Chopped dates (measured after chopping)
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/4 cup Water
• 2 cups Grated carrot (measured after grating)
• 100 gms Chopped cashews and walnuts (refer notes)
• 2 tsp Vanilla essence
• Juice of 1 orange
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1.5 cups Powdered sugar (you need 1 cup regular sugar to get 1.5 cups powdered sugar)
• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)
• 3 Eggs (@ room temp)

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven at 180 C, 10 mins before baking. Grease and line(with parchment paper) two 7 inch cake tins.

2. 2

   Soak dates in 1/4 cup water and 1/2 tsp baking soda for 1 hour.

3. 3

   Using an electric beater, mix the powdered sugar and oil, till it's combined well.

4. 4

   Separate the egg yolk and whites. Add the yolk, one by one, to the sugar and oil mixture. Beat well after each addition.

5. 5

   Add soaked dates, chopped nuts and grated carrots to the above mixture. Mix well using a wooden spatula or manual whisk. Add vanilla essence, orange juice and zest to the above mix and combine well.

6. 6

   Powder cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Add grated nutmeg to this and mix well. Combine together plain flour, baking soda and the spice mixture. Sift this and add to the batter along with semolina.

7. 7

   Beat the egg whites till a stiff peak forms. Add this to the cake batter and fold in gently, till no white traces are visible.

8. 8

   Transfer this to the prepared cake tins and bake in the preheated oven for 35 - 40 mins or till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.