Foodie Friday: Apple, Carrot or Zucchini Cake

So…clearly my thinking is not quite where it should be. You may have already supposed that I was touched (in the head), but please allow me to explain.

Try as I might, I am trying to reduce waste from the house and simultaneously reduce sugar.

At least in other people’s diets. Mine contains the same amount it always has…if not more.

No judging.

Part of this effort has included experimenting with juicing. A sweet friend of mine gave me her old juicer because she got a new one; she cautioned me that the old one is messy and frankly no fun to clean out.

I have utilized it 3 times as of this writing and I concur.

It is a little messy.

And it is a huge pain to clean.

But I am not at all complaining because this juicer was free to me.

The main issue I have (aside from the clean-up) is that it seems so wasteful.

Now, research tells us that the fiber in fruit and veggies is highly valuable. Nutrients in the juice are highly valuable as well, and are automatically available to the body when consumed as juice rather than eaten a whole food.

At least that’s what I found on Google. I am no nutrition expert. I just play one on my blog on Fridays.

Sometimes.

The Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark is evidence that it is not always healthy.

But I digress.

So I did add a touch of the pulpy fibrous mess back into the juice. But then what was I to do with all the rest of it?

Well, the first couple times, I had both fruit and veggies mixed together. So the only thing I could figure was to toss it.

Which grieved me.

It’s not that I am a pack rat…I just HATE wasting things. And I felt like it was such a waste.

So I resolved to figure this thing out.

And while I am not quite there, I am working on it. I can see progress.

I remembered somewhere back in the recesses of my brain someone telling me to do the carrots and/or veggies first so you could bag and freeze the waste/fiber/pulp for use in soup.

But I knew that we already had enough soup scheduled for the upcoming few weeks and patient though they are, I knew my family would come close to (if not going ahead with) a coup d'état (we all remember that term from either government, history or poli sci class, right? Man I love that stuff!) if we had too much more soup on the menu.

Hey…it’s winter, it’s cold, soup is cheap and easy to make. They don’t often complain but I knew I couldn’t add any more soup. Nor could I add carrots to the planned soups.

So…short story made excessively long: I decided I would bake the carrot and apple pulp. So I juiced the two of them first. In fact, I juiced the apples first in case there was a lot to use so I could keep the apples separate. Any straggling apple bits could be added to the baked carrots and would be fine (I figured…remember that I am NOT a professional chef. I know this is staggering news, but try to accept it.).

I only had 5 small apples, so there wasn’t a whole lot of waste. I decided to add the carrot pulp to the apples.

I ended up with about 4 cups of fibrous pulp (because I had about 7-8 carrots). Yes, I keep using the term "fibrous pulp" but I don’t know what else to call it. It is what it is.

I Googled recipes with apples and carrots. I Googled “apple and carrot casseroles”; I Googled “baked apples and carrots”…and ended up with nothing.

Well, nothing that sounded remotely good.

Not until I Googled "carrot and apple cake" did I strike gold.

I could not believe that no one has used the dregs from juicing in other cooking.

As I type this I realize that I did not Google “carrot pulp recipes”…maybe it would have warranted a hit? Actually, pause this blog for a moment while I check. I, of course, cannot leave this stone unturned; it would not befit my full-service blogger status.

And I’m back.

And apparently I wish I had started writing this post before I made my recipe because I might have spared myself some heartache and the thought to Google “carrot pulp recipes” would have occurred to me sooner.

There are literally hundreds of recipes for using juice pulp.

I realize that sometimes experiencing a “failure” (now, this is not really a failure…the cake turned out great…otherwise I would not be sharing it) is the best teacher.

Even for us non-kinesthetic learners.

So…I will be looking into that at some point very soon.

The good news is that I found a recipe that I *thought* would work, made a change and voila…I had a really nice cake.

Especially when paired with a cup of coffee. (Which is th eonly way I would eat it, which means it has to be breakfast.)

Now…let me bring this sucker back around to my original thought…anyone even remember what it was? The goal/reason/prompting to juice was to reduce sugar consumption. And then I went and made a cake containing sugar.

So…my real “failure” (again using this term loosely) is that I wish I had replaced the sugar with honey. And then decreased the water (because honey is a liquid…not sure if you knew that).

Next time, right? And maybe applesauce (homemade) for the oil. But let’s not get too crazy. Baby steps.

One thing I can be glad for (and yes, it was an afterthought but I shall claim it) is that I have also eliminated preservatives…both from the juice and the breakfast (yes, I am totally serving this at breakfast…there are fruit and veggies in it so it is healthy; and breakfast is the most important meal of the day!).

And now, because I am certain that you cannot possibly wait ANY longer…here it is:

Apple, Carrot or Zucchini Cake (or a Combination of any or all)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 cups peeled, cored and shredded apple (I had apple and carrot)

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 X 13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, blend the sugar with the eggs. Add the oil and water, and mix well. Mix in flour, spices, salt, and baking soda. Stir in the nuts and the apples, carrots, or zucchini. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm or cooled.

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