Papaya sponge cake

Papaya cake

The idea of a carrot cake made with papaya has been in my head for a long time... and now that I have so many papayas, I decided to give it a try: the classic 100% vegan carrot cake... but made with papaya.

Papaya lends itself particularly well to the game, as it is available in abundance almost all year round on our farm.

It has the same colour as carrots, a sweet and fruity taste and can also be grated when half ripe.



To make this papaya cake, I use the papaya as a puree instead of a compote. This makes it possible to recycle overripe papayas. But I also grate half-ripe papaya to add texture and follow the principle of carrot cake.
The characteristic taste of papaya disappears when cooked.



But this fruit brings beautiful fruity flavours. This principle can also be used with pumpkin (pumpkin puree + grated pumpkin) or carrots, if you find good, tasty ones (apple sauce + grated carrots).


In the end, you get a dense, melting, fruity papaya cake whose flavours are warmed up with some sweet spices (cinnamon, lemon zest, vanilla). And if you have a sweet tooth, add a vanilla vegetable glaze!

Papaya cake with orange

Servings: 1 cake Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour 1 hour

Papaya cake ingredients

•     230 g T80 flour
•     70 g brown sugar
•     6 g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
•     2 g (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
•     200 g (2 oz) papaya puree
•     120 g (4 oz) vegetable yoghurt
•     25 mL vegetable milk
•     45 mL neutral oil
•     1 tbsp lemon juice
•     1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
•     2 teaspoons vanilla powder
•     Grated zest of one lemon with thick peel
•     70 g grated half-ripe papaya (optional)
•     70 g blueberries (or sultanas, dried bananas...)
•     (You can add 120 ml of orange juice if you like)

Glaze :

•     110 g vegetable yoghurt
•     170 g firm tofu
•     3 teaspoons icing sugar
•     2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

•     Preheat the oven to 180°C.
•     Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
•     Add the papaya puree, yoghurt, milk and oil. Mix together.
•     Add cinnamon, vanilla, lemon zest, papaya zest, blueberries and lemon juice. Mix well.
•     Grease and flour a cake tin and spread the cake batter.
•     Bake at 180°C for 1 hour.
•     Place a clean cloth over the cake and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
•     Unmould, leave to cool and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

For the glaze:

•     Remove the vanilla seeds.
•     Mix the vegan yoghurt, firm tofu, sugar and vanilla seeds until smooth.
•     Drain the cream in a cheesecloth placed in a colander over a bowl for at least 4 hours. This will help the glaze to set. It will still be quite smooth.
•     Cover the top of your cake with the glaze.
•     Serve cold.

How to store my papaya cake?

In the fridge: baked, with or without the icing, in an airtight box for 3 days.


So, if you feel like sharing your recipe, I'll publish it on our instagram profile @tiendadefruta