Carrot & Sunflower Cake

Just because you're trying to eat healthily doesn't mean that you can't have cake. Yeeaah so you can't really get away from sugar when it comes to cake, but you know what they say: half the slice = half the calories, so you can eat twice as much! This carrot cake is packed full of carrots, pineapple, pecans & sunflower seeds, and is made using sunflower oil, wholemeal flour and brown sugar. I've done my best to make it wholesome so you don't feel so guilty about eating something sweet. This makes a large batch so be sure to share it with your friends.


Ingredients
Makes 18 generous slices

275g wholemeal flour
2tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp ginger
150g soft dark brown sugar
150g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
250ml sunflower oil
2tsp vanilla essence
450g carrots, peeled and finely grated
400g tin crushed pineapple, drained
125g pecans, toasted
100g sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 170°C and oil and line a large baking tray (approx 40cmx25cm).

Sift the first 6 dry ingredients into a bowl, then stir in the sugars. Make a well in the centre.

Add in the eggs, oil and vanilla then stir until combined.

Make sure that you squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the pineapple and carrots. Add them to the mix along with the toasted pecans.

Spread the mixture evenly into the baking tray, then sprinkle the sunflower seeds all over the top.

Bake in the oven for 30minutes until nicely browned on top, and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tray before turning out and slicing.