Passion Cake is a version of carrot cake which can include chopped nuts, coconut, mashed bananas, crushed pineapple as well as grated carrot.

When converting some of my existing cake recipes into traybakes recently I made far too much cream cheese icing when I was converting my Carrot Cake recipe. I didn’t want to waste the cream cheese so I thought I would use it to make a Passion Cake Traybake.

I found several recipes online and the ingredients they used varied quite a bit – I even found one which was just a simple carrot cake. Spices and other flavourings also varied, as well as the type of flour and sugar.

Ingredients I used to make this Passion Cake Traybake

• 10 ounces / 285 grams / 1 ¼ cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 9 ounces / 250 grams / 1.125 cups sugar
• 4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup desiccated coconut
• 4 large eggs
• 6 fluid ounces / 180 ml vegetable oil
• 4 fluid ounces / 120 ml buttermilk
• 6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup grated carrot
• 6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup mashed banana
• 6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup tinned pineapple, well drained and cut into small pieces
• Zest of 2 oranges
• Juice of ½ orange

For the glaze

• Juice of the remaining 1 ½ oranges
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 4 ounces / 110 grams / ½ cup soft light brown sugar
• A little extra desiccated coconut

Directions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C Fan / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
2. Grease and line an 8 inch x 12 inch traybake tin.
3. Sieve the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.
4. Stir in the sugar and desiccated coconut.
5. In another large bowl whisk the eggs with the oil and buttermilk and stir in the grated carrot, mashed banana, small pieces of pineapple and the orange zest and juice.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until evenly combined.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes in the pre-heated oven until well risen and firm to the touch.
8. While the cake is baking whisk together the ingredients for the glaze until the sugar is dissolved and you have a syrup.
9. When the cake comes out of the oven pierce it all over with a metal skewer and spoon the syrup evenly over the surface.
10. Sprinkle the surface with a little additional desiccated coconut.
11. Leave in the baking tin until completely cold, before removing and cutting into portions. You should get 12 very generous portions and up to 20 smaller ones.

Equipment you will need to make this Passion Cake Traybake

As well as the usual kitchen equipment the main item you will need to make this traybake is an 8 inch by 12 inch cake tin such as the PME OBL08122 Aluminium Oblong Cake Pan 8 x 12 x 2-Inch which is available at Amazon.

How I created my Passion Cake Traybake Recipe

I based my experiments on my carrot cake recipe and ironically my final version didn’t have a cream cheese icing – just an orange glaze. My first version had a cream cheese icing but I found it too sweet with the richer fruitier cake. However, if you would like to make a cream cheese icing I have given instructions at the end of this post.

When I was trying to think of an alternative I remembered making a carrot cake at least 30 years ago from a Delia Smith recipe ‘Caroline’s Carrot Cake’ in her ‘Book Of Cakes‘. This cake didn’t have a cream cheese icing – instead it had an orange glaze similar to a drizzle cake.

I tried this and found I liked it better than the cream cheese icing – it was lighter and fruitier. I found I could not source any crushed pineapple, none of my local supermarkets stocked tinned crushed pineapple. I did try putting drained tinned pineapple pieces into a food processor but it turned into a sort of pineapple sludge. So in the end I just used tinned pineapple drained and cut into small pieces.

I didn’t include nuts in my final version as cake with nuts cannot be included in school packed lunches and I didn’t feel that their inclusion added anything to the taste.

Feel free to add chopped nuts, about 3-4 ounces, of either pecans or walnuts and to use well drained crushed pineapple instead of pineapple pieces, if you can find it.

Cream Cheese Icing for Passion Cake Traybake

If you prefer cream cheese icing you will only need half the quantity given in my carrot cake recipe.

Here is what you will need:

• 3 ounces / 85 grams / ⅓ cup cup butter softened
• 6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup full fat cream cheese at room temperature
• 6 ounces / 170 grams / ¾ cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy and then gradually beat in the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth.
2. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until the icing is thick.
3. Store in the refrigerator until the traybake is completely cold.
4. Spread the icing evenly over the top of the traybake and mark into squares.

It would be nicer flavoured with orange zest rather than vanilla, but of course this is a personal preference.

My other traybakes

If you would like to try some of my other traybakes – I’ve been busy making quite a few recently – then see my Lemon Drizzle Traybake, Pear and Walnut Gingerbread Traybake and my dairy free and egg free Chocolate Cherry Traybake.

Until next time…

Happy baking!

Tanya