Incredibly Moist Carrot Cake Recipe using the Ninja 14-in-1 SmartLid Multi Cooker
For those who don’t know, Ninja Kitchen is a really large Kitchen appliance company who have been making products for decades. Their products are designed to make preparing delicious foods quick and easy. I have been using Ninja products for quite some time now and they have never failed me. My first purchase was their blender, which I brought back a couple of years ago and still to this day it works wonders.
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So before we get into the recipe let’s go through some of the key features in the New LIMITED EDITION 14-in-1 SmartLid Multi Cooker, just so that we understand how to use it when it comes to using it later on in the recipe.
Multi Cooker Features & Functions
The Multicooker has multiple cooking options designed to make family meals much quicker and more efficient.
There are a total of 14 different features included in this new multi-cooker. The SmartLid Slider enables 3 modes under 1 lid. It has a Pressure Cooker, Combi-Steam and Air fryer mode.
Pressure Cooker
When you slide the SmartLid slider to the left it enables the Pressure Cooker Mode. In this position, the lid is designed to lock to prevent opening for safety. The Multi-cooker also has an adjustable pressure release at the top which allows you to release pressure by turning it to the VENT position. So once you have finished PRESSURE COOKING, turn the pressure release to VENT to allow quick release. Once the pressure has been released push the slider to the right position, then carefully open the lid.
The significant part about pressure cooking is that it cooks food quickly but still maintains tenderness, making it great for family meals such as a delicious chicken pot pie.
Combi-Steam Mode
As you centre the SmartLid slider it will enable the Combi-Steam Mode, which gives you 4 different cooking functions. This includes Steam Meals, Steam Air Fry, Steam Bake and Steam Bread.
If you are the type of person who likes to meal prep, this Multi-cooker is perfect for you. The product comes with a rack which allows you to stack your mains and sides and cook them all at the same time. Making meal prepping so much quicker and more efficient.
The steam air-fry mode allows you to gently cook your food at a high temperature and still get crispier results, regardless of whether your food is fresh or frozen.
My favourite feature is the STEAM-BAKE mode. Mostly because I love baking, but also because it makes a perfect light and fluffy cake. As a was reading more into the STEAM-BREAD function I learnt that you can prove as well as bake the bread all in one pot. I haven’t used this feature yet but I definitely will have to try and test it out, so stay tuned for that.
Air-Fry Mode
As you slide the Slider to the right it will enable the Air Fry mode, as well as allow you to open and close the lid at any time to check on the food. This mode has a total of 9 different cooking functions which include…
- Air Fry
- Grill
- Bake
- Dehydrate
- Prove
- Sear/Saute
- Steam
- Slow Cook
- Yoghurt
So let’s just say you can pretty much use this Multicooker for a lot of things. Now that we understand the basic functions and features, let’s begin making the carrot cake mix.
Blending the Nuts
Carrot cake is one of my favourite flavours out there. I have tested many different methods to find out the keys to making a delicious decadent carrot cake. So here’s what I found…
Using ground walnuts in the cake will help provide extra moisture to the cake, as well as provide a nice balance of texture. The easiest way to ground the nuts is to add them to a food processor and pulse them for a few seconds. Just don’t over blend as you might lose some of the texture in the cake.
Mixing the Dry ingredients
For recipes like carrot cake, I usually mix all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. This is because it helps distribute all of the spices used evenly. It also prevents us from over-mixing the cake batter.
Whenever you add flour to liquid mixtures the gluten proteins will activate, which isn’t a bad thing as it gives baked good structure. However overmixing will lead to too much gluten development resulting in tougher baked goods or sometimes extremely chewy bakes. This tip applies to a majority of recipes.
Adding the Carrots
So after mixing the dry ingredients with the wet it’s time to add the carrots. When choosing your carrots it’s always better to use fresh carrots as they have more moisture and flavour in comparison to pre-shredded carrots. Pre-shredded carrots tend to be drier, which could cause our beautiful cake to become dry too.
Once you have added the carrot use a spatula to fold in the carrots until they are evenly distributed, making sure not to overmix.
Cake Tin
For this recipe, I am using a loose bottom 8-inch tin which fits perfectly into the Ninja Multi-Cooker. You can use any 8-inch round tin in the ninja, like a sandwich tin or spring form tin as well.
To prevent the cake from sticking to the tin you can use a cake-release spray or some parchment paper. However, if you don’t have either you could use a little bit of butter to grease the tin then add a dusting of flour as it works the same (just tap out any excess flour before adding the cake mix).
The Icing
I’m usually not the biggest fan of cream cheese icing so it’s not something I make very often, but I thought it wouldn’t be a classic cake without it so I followed the original recipe from the Ninja recipe book, but just add a little extra icing sugar to balance out the sweetness.
Once the cake had finished baking I let the cake cool completly upside down. This is a little trick I learnt if your cake isn’t perfectly level, it also makes icing the cake a little easier. Once the cake has cooled I used my cake leveller to slice the cake horizontally across the centre to get to equall halves. If you don’t have a cake leveller you can also use a large knife to create the same effect.
Using a turn table and a cake board I added a genrous amount of cream cheese icing on the cake and then used a cranked pallette knife to level it out. I then sandwhiched the other cake layer on top.
Decoration
For the decorations I used 1 pack of mini sugar decoration carrots (from Baked with Love), which I purchased from Asda for around £1.50, each pack contains 12.
Then to further spruce up the design I used some extra whole pecans next to each carrot around the edges of the cake.
Incredibly Moist Carrot Cake Recipe using the Ninja 14-in-1 SmartLid Multi Cooker
Ingredients
Cake
Icing & Decorations
Instructions
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Using a food processor blend the walnuts and pecans into fine crumbs (this will add a nice amount of texture as well as moisture to the cake).
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In a large mixing bowl add oil, sugar and eggs. Then mix well and set aside.
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In another bowl add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and nuts. Then mix well until everything is evenly combined.
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Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until just combined (we don’t want to overmix the flour).
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Then add in the grated carrots and continue to mix until everything is well combined without overmixing.
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Next grease an 8-inch round tin with butter, then dust it with some flour (this will prevent the cake from sticking). Or you can use any kind of cake release spray if you prefer.
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Turn on the Ninja Multi Cooker.
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Then pour 700ml of water into the pot. Next, place the cake onto the reversible rack in the lower position, then place the rack in the pot.
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Close the lid and move the slide in the middle for the COMBI-STEAM position.
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Select STEAM BAKE, set the temperature to 160C and set the timer to 45 minutes.
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Press start/stop to start cooking. The cake will STEAM for about 20 minutes before the STEAM BAKE process begins.
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Once the cooking is complete, insert a wooden skewer to check if it’s fully baked.
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When the cake is done allow it to cool for 45 minutes.
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As you wait for the cake to cool, you can start preparing the cream cheese icing.
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In a bowl whisk the softened butter until pale and fluffy, then add in the cream cheese and icing sugar, then whisk for a few seconds till well combined.
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After the cake has cooled, using a cake leveller or knife slice the cake in half horizontally.
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Spread cream cheese evenly on the first layer of the cake. Then add the next layer of cake on top. Add more cream cheese and decorate with mini carrot decorations and pecans.
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Once decorated enjoy.
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