Pea cake: New veggie cake explained and how you can make it at home

• Pea cake is a new veggie cake
• Google searches have risen for pea cake
• Yes Peas! has shared a recipe to make pea cake at home

There is a new veggie cake on the scene that seems to be taking over from carrot cake - the pea cake.

According to Google trends data, the pea cake is on the rise as the most popular vegetable-based cake, with many searching for recipes to make the cake at home.

While searches for ‘pea cake recipe’ have increased by 177%, searches for ‘carrot cake recipe’ have decreased by 25%.

Lisa Stannard from the British Growers Association, which runs the Yes Peas! campaign said: “People are starting to realise that peas make a great ingredient for baking! The majority of peas that you buy in the supermarket are frozen within just 2.5 hours of being picked in the field, meaning their moisture and nutrient content get locked in straight away – which then offers a natural sweetness to cakes, and helps to achieve that all important moist and fluffy texture!

“Plus, the vibrant green colour adds a unique, playful touch for those looking to try something a bit different. It makes the perfect cake to wish someone a hap-pea birthday!”

What is pea cake?

Pea cake is actually what it sounds like, a cake made with peas as the main ingredient. Despite peas being the main star of the show, those who have tried the cake say that the pea flavour isn’t too overpowering. Many have been making pea cake at home, and putting their own twists on the cake with the addition of other ingredients and flavours.

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How to make pea cake?

Yes Peas! has shared its recipe for a Pea & Vanilla Cake with Lemon Frosted Icing.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• Melted butter, for greasing
• 225g frozen peas, defrosted
• 375g self-raising flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• Rind and juice of 2 lemons
• 3 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 225g runny honey
• 200ml vegetable oil

For the icing:

• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 400g light cream cheese
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Rind of 1 lemon, plus the juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170°C/160°C fan.
• Line two 18cm cake tins with baking parchment and grease the sides of the tins with a little melted butter.
• Blitz the peas to a purée in a food processor, adding some of the oil to loosen the mixture.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, add the pea purée, lemon rind and juice, eggs, vanilla paste, honey and vegetable oil and beat well with a hand mixer. Divide the cake mixture equally between the 2 cake tins and cook in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes until cooked (you can check to see if the cake is cooked by piercing the cake with a skewer, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked). Remove the tins from the oven, allow to cool slightly in the tins and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the icing, beat the butter in a bowl and beat in the cream cheese, honey, vanilla paste and lemon rind and juice. Spread half the mixture on top of one of the cake rounds and top with the other cake round. Spread the remaining mixture all over the cake, smoothing it around the sides and over the top. Decorate with some mint leaves and edible flowers.

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