Eggless carrot wheat flakes cake

My quench for healthy yet tasty dishes never seizes! So when I came across carrot bran cake in Madhuram's eggless cooking, I bookmarked it immediately and tried it recently with some little variations. I have used Kellogg's All bran wheat flakes in this recipe but you could very well use any bran flakes/oat bran etc. Carrots add to the sweetness of the cake and hence this recipe calls in for a considerably lesser amount of sugar and also it has no butter! But absolutely no compromise to the taste :)

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup **
• Maida - 1/4 cup **
• Brown sugar - 1/4 cup (White granulated sugar can also be used)
• Bran flakes - 3/4 cup, crushed coarsely with hands
• Carrot - 1/2 cup, grated
• Buttermilk - 1 cup
• Cinnamon powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Baking soda - 1/2 Tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Orange zest - from 1/2 orange
• Raisins - 1/4 cup
• Walnuts - 1/4 cup, chopped (optional)
• Oil - 1/8 cup

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C for 10 minutes. Line muffin trays with cupcake liners or dust a cake pan and keep aside
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together - flour, sugar, bran flakes, carrot, cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins, orange zest
3. Make a dent in between and pour in the oil and buttermilk and gently fold in. DO NOT over mix
4. Fold in the walnuts, if using
5. Fill the batter in the muffin molds or cake pan
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. If you have used muffin molds then they take lesser time to bake than in cake pans. So keep a watch on your cake after 17 minutes
7. Cool completely and store
8. This cake tastes the best when it is completely cooled. I baked it on a Sunday and took it for my evening snack the next day and it tasted too good

Enjoy the yummy cake absolutely guilt free! Eating healthy can be tasty too!! 

** Note - This can be skipped and instead 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour can be used in the recipe to make it even more healthier! Or if you do not like too much of wheat, then only 3/4 cup of maida can be used. Absolutely your choice :)