Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Sweet treats: Tuck into this lower calorie carrot cake by The Hairy Bikers

Low calorie carrot cake.
The carrot cake.

If you are looking to make a lower calorie carrot cake, look no further than this delicious creation from The Hairy Bikers.

Featured in the duo’s latest recipe book, Si King and Dave Myers have reduced the calories in this cake by cutting back on sugar and oil.

Appearing at Taste of Grampian next weekend at P&J Live in Aberdeen on Saturday June 4, Si King hopes this recipe will allow those with a sweet tooth to have their cake and eat it.

Adding yoghurt helps keep the cake moist and if you wish to reduce the calories further you could replace the sugar with xylitol (a natural alternative to sugar).

Icing is optional, but if you do add icing, keep the cake in the fridge as there isn’t a high enough sugar content to preserve the dairy safely.

With a prep time of 20 minutes, a bake time of 45 minutes and around 358 calories per slice, this easy to follow recipe is the perfect weekend treat.


Lower calorie carrot cake

Serves 8

Carrot cake.
Low calorie carrot cake.

Ingredients

  • 200g wholemeal flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • Pinch of salt
  • 100g light soft brown sugar
  • 50ml maple syrup
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 3 eggs
  • 75ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
  • 50ml yoghurt
  • 50g walnuts or pecans, chopped
  • 200g carrots, grated
  • 150g raisins

Icing (optional):

  • 50g quark
  • 50g cream cheese
  • 25g thick yoghurt
  • 25g icing sugar

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to Fan 160C/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Butter a 20cm deep
    round cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
  2. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cardamom with a generous pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, maple syrup, orange zest, eggs and oil until well combined.
  3. Fold in the flour mixture followed by the yoghurt to make a smooth batter, then stir in the walnuts or pecans, grated carrots and raisins.
  4. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until well risen, springy to touch and slightly shrunken away from the sides.
  5. Remove from the oven and leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a cooling rack.
  6. To make the icing, if using, beat together all the ingredients until thick and smooth.
  7. When the cake is completely cool, spread the icing over the top with a palette knife. If not serving immediately, store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge.

The Hairy Dieters’ Simple Healthy Food by Si King and Dave Myers is published by Seven Dials in trade paperback at £16.99 and ebook at £8.99, out now.


For more sweet treats…