My first zero-waste recipe on the blog and I am so happy and proud to share it with you guys 🙂

Almost every morning during these days I drink fresh juice from my favorite fruits. Ginger, lemon, beets, celery, and carrot. I have to admit that for a long time I used to throw or compost pulps and waste accumulated from these fruits. And I always felt bad about it, creating so much unnecessary waste and wasting parts of food that could be otherwise used if eaten as a whole.

Last week though, my friend Danka who’s running a zero-waste blog and Instagram profile focusing on how to reduce waste in a household, especially in the kitchen, shared a challenge of the week – try to use something that you usually throw away. And that was it. I already saw myself munching on that yummy, zero-waste (or made from the waste?) carrot cake.

Guys, the recipe is easy and ingredients are exchangeable, as always. What I mean by that? In the recipe, I used half & half buckwheat & spelt flour but if all you have right now is AP/ white flour, then use that one. I used my favorite coconut sugar but feel free to use brown one or the one you have at home. For the frosting, you can as well use only sour cream or you can omit the frosting fully. And spices? If you’re not a passionate baker or chef and don’t have a range of spices at home than use those you have – perhaps you can find cinnamon. I personally would not buy a bunch of ingredients I usually don’t use just to be able to make one-time-only cake or meal. It’s a waste. And I believe that this is what zero-waste is about, isn’t it? Use what you have, mix and match and enjoy the process while nurturing your body with real food and quality ingredients. Now, let’s bake.

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INGREDIENTS
(for 20x20cm/ 8x8inch baking pan)

1 Egg, whole

30g Olive Oil (or any vegetable oil)

50g Coconut Sugar

120g White Yogurt 

160g Carrot Pulp 

50-100g Milk 

50g Buckwheat Flour

40g Spelt Flour 

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda 

A Pinch of Cinnamon, All Spice, Dry Ginger & Salt 

♥

FROSTING

100g Cream Cheese

100g Sour Cream

Pinch of Lemon Zest

A Teaspoon of Honey 

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METHOD

1. First of all, measure the amount of carrot pulp you have. Adjust amounts of other ingredients based on the amount of the carrot pulp, so you keep the ratios approximately similar
2. Whisk one whole egg with sugar and oil until creamy and frothy (some 7 minutes).
3. Stir in yogurt, milk and carrot pulp and mix properly
4. Mix in flours, baking soda, spices (be generous with spices), and salt and mix until smooth, well incorporated with no flour lumps. If your batter is too thick, add more milk so it is easy to pour
5. Pour your batter into the non-stick baking pan greased with butter (or muffin cups) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the top
6. For a frosting, whisk cream cheese with sour cream, some lemon zest, and a teaspoon of honey and spread on cooled down cake. Decorate with crushed nuts or with whatever you like. If you cut the cake into 12 pieces as I did then one piece will contain roughly only 4g of added sugar.

Bon Appetit,
Lenka