Old-Fashioned Carrot Cakes

Using carrots to sweeten food can be traced back to late medieval times when carrots along with parsnips were often used to provide extra sweetness to recipes. Using sweet vegetables was more common as sugar was rare and very expensive so it wouldn't have been available to the poorer folk and the richer classes used it as a spice and often kept it locked up! Medieval carrots were more likely to be purple, white, or yellow in colour, and much smaller and thinner compared to today's larger orange carrots.

Carrot cake is thought to have originated in Britain during the 1800s Victorian times when steamed carrot puddings became very popular. By the 1940s, carrot cake became very popular as it was promoted by the Ministry of Food. Carrots were a valuable ingredient as they provided a frugal way to provide bakes with a natural sweetness which meant that the amount of sugar required in a recipe could be reduced. At the same time, home-baking recipes that used margarine or oil rather than butter, and omitted eggs were also becoming more common-place and vital.

During the 1960s, carrot cake became very popular in the United States, where it was often served with a cream cheese frosting. Americans have a National Carrot Cake Day which is marked each year on the 3rd February. Another special day and a good excuse to enjoy carrot cake is International Carrot Day which is held on the 4th April.

Wartime carrot cake

This delicious carrot cake recipe dates back to the 1940s when it was originally supplied by the British Ministry of Food during wartime. We've adapted the recipe by adding more cinnamon, more sultanas, more carrot, and a little more milk for extra moisture. To boost the flavour, we've also included some vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

The original recipe didn't include frosting, but we found that an orange buttercream icing perfectly complements the moist and fluffy texture of the cupcakes. To keep the recipe budget-friendly, we substituted cream cheese with Stork baking spread, which really does result in a frosting that is creamy and delicious.

To finish, we grate some fresh orange zest on top of the frosting for a burst of citrus flavour, and a crunchy walnut for extra texture.

British Ministry of Food

The British Ministry of Food was a government department that was created during World War II in the United Kingdom to oversee food rationing and ensure the fair distribution of food to the population.

The Ministry was established in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war, and was responsible for a range of tasks related to food supply, including the procurement and distribution of food, the establishment of rationing systems, the promotion of food production and preservation, and the management of food imports and exports.

The Ministry of Food played a vital role in ensuring that the British population had access to adequate food supplies during the war, despite the significant challenges felt by families during the wartime shortages and disruptions to supply chains.

During the war Britain experienced a shortage of eggs which led the government to introduce rationing of eggs limiting individuals to one egg per week. As a result many traditional favourite recipes were adapted to not require eggs - including carrot cake!

Vinegar and baking powder as egg replacers

During the war years one popular egg replacement was the combination of vinegar and baking powder. During baking vinegar reacts with the baking powder to produce carbon dioxide gas bubbles that cause the cake to rise beautifully with a fluffy and light texture. And best of all the baked cake does not taste of vinegar!

Doctor Carrot!

Doctor Carrot was a fictional character created by the British Ministry of Food during World War II to encourage people to eat more vegetables, especially carrots. The character was portrayed as a cartoon doctor wearing a white coat and stethoscope, with a carrot for a head. He was often depicted promoting the health benefits of carrots, and encouraging people to incorporate them into their diets.

The Ministry of Food used various advertising campaigns to promote eating more vegetables, including posters featuring Doctor Carrot, and recipes that included carrots as a main ingredient. The campaign was very successful, and carrots became one of the most widely consumed vegetables in the UK during the war years.

The idea behind Doctor Carrot was to make healthy eating more fun and accessible, especially during a time when food was rationed and scarce. By creating a playful character that people could relate to, the Ministry of Food hoped to inspire people to try new and unusual foods, and to discover the health benefits of eating vegetables.

Today, Doctor Carrot remains a fond, if not forgotten, symbol of the wartime effort to promote healthy eating and to encourage people to make the most of limited food resources.

Vegetable wars!

Carrots are normally quite budget-friendly in the UK, but they are especially so around Easter time when supermarkets strive with rival supermarkets in their 'Easter Veg Wars' to offer the cheapest prices on vegetables. This year (2024) a bag of carrots are selling for 15p at many supermarkets! So why not take advantage of the glut of cheap carrots and make a batch of homemade carrot cakes?