Image is for illustrative purposes only.

This is a moist, oil-based carrot and pineapple sponge, spiced with cinnamon and studded with walnut pieces. The grated carrot and crushed pineapple keep it soft and tender for days, and because it is made with oil rather than butter it stays moist straight from the fridge.

It is an easy mix with no creaming and no whipping — everything comes together in one bowl. The crumb is close and damp rather than airy, which makes it a good base for layer cakes with cream cheese filling, for cupcakes, or simply cut into squares and served plain.

Ingredients

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Weight Per Unit: 1092 Number of Units: 2 Unit Size: 40mm height by 200mm diametre round sponge
	WEIGHT (grams)	ALTERNATIVE METRIC	INGREDIENT	IMAGE	CONDITION
A	375	13.2 ounces	Cake Flour Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.		sifted
B	425	15 ounces	Sugar Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
C	7.5	1.5 teaspoons	Baking Powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid, and is used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. It is used instead of yeast for end-products where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes, or for convenience. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through fermentation, breads made by chemical leavening are called quick breads.		sifted
D	13	2.6 teaspoons	Sodium Bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate (a.k.a baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda, and bicarbonate of soda), referred to as "baking soda", is primarily used in cooking (baking), as a leavening agent. It reacts with acidic components in batters, releasing carbon dioxide, which causes expansion of the batter and forms the characteristic texture and grain in pancakes, cakes, quick breads, soda bread, and other baked and fried foods. Acidic compounds that induce this reaction include phosphates, cream of tartar, lemon juice, yogurt, buttermilk, cocoa, vinegar, etc. Natural acids in sourdough can be leavened with the addition of small amounts as well. Sodium bicarbonate can be substituted for baking powder provided sufficient acid reagent is also added to the recipe. Many forms of baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate combined with calcium acid phosphate, sodium aluminium sulphate or cream of tartar. Sodium bicarbonate was sometimes used in cooking vegetables, to make them softer, although this has gone out of fashion, as most people now prefer firmer vegetables. However, it is still used in Asian and Latin American cuisine to tenderise meats. Baking soda may react with acids in food, including vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid). It is also used in breadings such as for fried foods to enhance crispness. Heat causes sodium bicarbonate to act as a raising agent by releasing carbon dioxide when used in baking. The carbon dioxide production starts at temperatures above 80 °C. Since the reaction does not occur at room temperature, mixtures (cake batter, etc.) can be allowed to stand without rising until they are heated in the oven.		sifted
E	13	2.6 teaspoons	Cinnamon Cinnamon (/ˈsɪnəmən/ sin-ə-mən) is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods. While Cinnamomum verum is sometimes considered to be "true cinnamon", most cinnamon in international commerce is derived from related species, which are also referred to as "cassia" to distinguish them from "true cinnamon". (ground)
F	200	7 ounces	Walnut Pieces Walnut pieces are shelled walnut kernels broken into rough chunks. They are sold ready-chopped and are cheaper than whole halves, which makes them ideal for folding through cake batters where the nuts are not on show.		roughly chopped
G	250	8.8 ounces	Carrot Carrot is a sweet root vegetable. Grated finely and raw, it melts into a cake batter during baking, adding moisture, colour and a gentle sweetness rather than any vegetable flavour.		peeled and finely grated
H	375	13.2 ounces	Crushed Pineapple Crushed pineapple is tinned pineapple that has been finely chopped and packed in its own juice or a light syrup. It adds moisture and a mild fruity acidity to cakes and is used with some of its juice still clinging to the fruit. (tinned)		drained of excess juice
I	225	7.9 ounces	Whole Egg Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together. approx. 9 eggs at full batch size		room temperature
J	300	300 millilitres	Cooking Oil Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed edible oil. Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such as herbs, chillies or garlic.
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Method

STEP	ACTION	DETAIL	CONDITION
1	Prepare	Grease and line your tins, and weigh out every ingredient before you start.	All ingredients at room temperature.
2	Pre-heat	Turn the oven on to 170 C.	Fan off if possible.
3	Sift	Sift A, C, D and E (cake flour, baking powder, sodium bicarbonate and cinnamon) together into a large bowl.	Evenly blended, no lumps.
4	Whisk	In a second bowl, whisk I and B (whole egg and caster sugar) together.	Pale and slightly frothy.
5	Add	Pour in J (cooking oil) in a steady stream while whisking.	Smooth and combined.
6	Fold	Fold in G and H (carrot and crushed pineapple).	Evenly spread through the mix.
7	Combine	Add the sifted dry ingredients and fold through gently.	Just combined — do not overmix.
8	Fold	Fold in F (walnut pieces).	Nuts evenly distributed.
9	Fill	Divide the batter between the prepared tins.	About two thirds full.
10	Bake	Bake at 170 C for 35 - 45 minutes depending on the depth of your tin.	Springs back to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.
11	Cool	Rest in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.	Completely cool before cutting or filling.

Important Notes

This scaled recipe makes about 2.18 kg of batter, enough for two 200 mm round sponges about 40 mm high, or one deep 200 mm tin. Chef's tips from the original bakery sheet: blanched carrot rings are used as a decoration on the top layers — blanch thin rings of carrot briefly in boiling water, drain and dry them, then set them in the base of every second ring mould so they bake into the surface of the cake and show when turned out. Because of the carrot and pineapple this sponge stays moist for several days. Keep it wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to a week. It freezes well, wrapped tightly, for up to 3 months.

Tools & Arrangements

Large mixing bowls, sieve, balloon whisk or electric mixer, coarse grater, spatula, scales, two 200 mm round cake tins (or silicone ring moulds), baking paper, cooling rack, skewer.