Cakes have long been a staple in celebrating occasions, whether you are celebrating a birthday, a graduation, an anniversary, or a wedding and more. But unlike popular belief, cakes are not always unhealthy. They come in all different shapes and sizes and not all are what they seem.

We are here to help you make delicious cakes for your family but with some special, healthy and a bit earthy ingredient.

Natural red velvet cake

If you are a fan of red velvet cakes, this recipe will blow your mind. It is sweet, a bit earthy, chocolatey, and so delicious, you will never have enough!

Ingredients

The cake

125 g unsalted butter

250 g raw beetroots grated

75 ml buttermilk

1 tbsp. white grape vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

200 g sugar

250 g plain flour

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs (room temperature)

The icing

100 g soft unsalted butter

350 g sifted icing sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

175 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

 How to cook

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a loaf tin with parchment baking paper.
2. For the cake, in a food processor add in the beetroot, buttermilk, vinegar and vanilla and puree. Then add butter, sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and eggs and mix well to combine.
3. Pour the whole mixture into your greased tin and bake for about 1hr. Leave to cool in tin for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, half the icing sugar and vanilla in a until completely smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar and the cream cheese and beat until just combined.
5. To assemble, slice the cooled cake in half horizontally, reserve crumbs. Use half the icing to sandwich the cake halves back together, then top with remaining icing and sprinkle with crumbs.

Deluxe carrot cake

Are you a fan of the good old classic carrot cake? Well, we are here to help you make the upmost delicious carrot cake and you will not regret it.

Ingredients

225 ml sunflower oil

225 g sugar

4 medium eggs

225 g self-rising flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp each mixed spice and ground cinnamon

1 orange

150 g raisins

200 g carrots, grated

50 g walnuts

50 g ginger

For the frosting

600 g cream cheese

200 g sifted icing sugar

Zest of 1 orange

 

How to cook

 

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. In a large bowl, whisk oil, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Add in flour, baking soda and spices. Now add the orange zest to mixture with juice from only half of the orange. Add the raisins, carrots, walnuts, and ginger and mix well.
2. Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 30 minutes. Cover cake with foil and bake for a further 1hr 15min. While in tin, leave to cool for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.
3. To make the frosting, add all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Cut cooled cake in two and use half the frosting to sandwich together. Then spread remaining frosting over top and decorate with marzipan carrots.

 

Vanilla and pea cake with lemon frosting

Fancy a green cake? This delicious vanilla pea cake tastes nothing like peas but with all the health benefits that come with it.

Ingredients

The cake

275g fresh or frozen peas

200g butter room temperature

150g sugar

3 medium eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

zest and juice of ½ lemon

250g all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

 

How to cook

1. Preheat the oven to160°C. Grease and line two 9inch cake pans.
2. Boil the peas for a few minutes, drain, rinse under cold water and then puree with a blender.
3. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the cooled pea puree, vanilla, zest, and lemon juice.
4. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir gently to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into the tins, then bake for 25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Lemon frosting

150g butter room temperature

300g powdered icing sugar

Zest and juice of ½ a lemon

1. In a large bowl, whisk the butter until fluffy and creamy. Add in the icing sugar and mix. Add in the zest and a little of the lemon juice and mix well until combined. Add more lemon juice to make it a frosting consistency and beat again.
2. To assemble the cake, spread a little of the buttercream between the layers of the completely cooled cakes and sandwich together. Cover the cake in the remaining buttercream.

 

Brazilian carrot cake with chocolate icing

Unlike usual carrot cakes that we have grown to love, this Brazilian version will blow your mind. It is also an easier recipe to make and will guarantee your taste buds’ happiness with every bite.

Ingredients

The cake

250ml vegetable oil

400g caster sugar

4 large eggs

3 medium carrots sliced

300g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

How to cook

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a medium size cake tin with parchment baking paper.
2. In a blender combine the oil, sugar, eggs, and carrots. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour carrot mixture into a bowl and sift in the flour and baking powder. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Let cool while in tin for 5 – 10 minutes then remove from tin and set aside to cool completely.

 

Chocolate icing

250ml milk

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp honey

100g dark chocolate

Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Allow the icing to cool slightly, then pour over the cooled cake.

 

Sweet Potato Cup Cake

We all must know someone who loves sweet potato fries, but as it turns out, even though sweet potatoes are considered a root vegetable, we tend to disregard how sweet they can be. If you love banana bread or pumpkin pies, you will fall in love with this next sweet potato cake recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 cup cold mashed sweet potatoes

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup water

1 large egg

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Icing sugar

How to cook

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line an 8-cup pan with parchment baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix in the sugar, potatoes, butter, water, and egg.
3. In another bowl, add all dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the potato mixture and combine. Stir in raisins and pecans then pour the whole mixture into your prepared pan.
5. Bake at 180°C for 45-50 minutes. While in pan, cool for 10 minutes then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Finally dust with icing sugar.

 

You can find all your vegetables and fruits at the Waterfront Market which offers you the freshest produce daily. Whether you are looking for locally sourced produce or imported varieties of the exotic kind – you will find it all here in our state-of-the-art fruits and vegetables market.