Recipe of the month: Carrot Cake Laddus

I would have loved to bring you this recipe in time for Ganesh Chaturthi but I have clearly failed in that endaevor. Never mind! I am posting this recipe well in advance for Diwali/Deepavali with the hope that it adds a touch of modern sparkle to your upcoming festive celebration 😊

I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It is such a delightful combination. Carrots are earthy and slightly sweet, while cream cheese is tangy, rich and mildly savoury. It is the contrast that makes this seemingly odd pairing work. 

If you are well-acquainted with my blog, you may be aware of a Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe that I posted years ago (12 years to be precise). Back in Singapore, I used to make them all the time to take to office for my colleagues, for potlucks or to serve at home when having guests over for dinner. It happens to be one of my favourite recipes on my blog. 

This year, for Ganesh Chaturthi, I was looking for a simple recipe (as usual) to kick start the festivities. I had already decided that I was going to make chocolate modaks for the kids. I needed another sweet recipe but with a hundred other things demanding my attention, I wasn't prepared to spend too much time in the kitchen. It was then that I remembered my carrot cake recipe. I thought it would be a great idea to give it a makeover and turn them into laddus. Although I love traditional dishes and firmly believe that classic recipes shouldn't be messed with, I can't help but play around when it comes to dessert. Turns out, my idea wasn't original. There were plenty of recipes I found online that had come up with the same concept way before me. Oh well! 😄

These laddus came together in less than 30 minutes. Oven-roasting the carrots is such a great idea because it brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots. Indians are familiar with carrots being used in traditional sweets like carrot halwa and carrot kheer but for those who find the addition of carrots strange, I can assure you that it does not taste like you have added a vegetable into your dessert 😁 The use of almond flour makes this an "instant" dessert, bypassing the need for cooking and tedious stirring which is common with traditional Indian sweets. So if you are short on time, this recipe should be part of your arsenal. 

At the end, I had a dessert that looked Indian but tasted somewhat International 😄 Everyone who tried them gave me great feedback so I decided it was worth featuring here. These laddus are naturally gluten-free and can easily be made vegan. I have provided ample substitutions and tips with which you can tweak it to suit your kitchen steup or your dietary preferences. 

I am a bit disappointed that I couldn't do much this year for Ganesh Chaturthi. Hopefully, I'll be able to make up for it this Diwali 💫 Stay tuned! 

Until next time folks....