I’m not really a fan
of carrot cake but it’s one of my mum, nan and fiances favourites so I thought
I’d give it a go. This recipe is so easy and the cinnamon and nutmeg
leaves the house smelling amazing! The only problem I had with the recipe
was judging the heat of the oven as the cakes brown quickly and, in the midst
of a cleaning frenzy a few months ago,
I accidentally scrubbed all the temperature
labels completely off my oven! So I have absolutely no idea
where ‘180C’ is on the dial! Did I mention I’m not the cleverest of
people? Anyways this recipe worked first time for me, even with my
dodgy oven and guess work so it must be really easy if even I couldn’t mess it
up! Enjoy the yumminess!
Ingredients: Cake – 4 eggs, 200ml vegetable oil, 250g
grated carrots, 100g raisins, 1 orange, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1
tsp cinnamon, 1 lemon, 50g caster sugar, 200g self-raising flour, 1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 100g walnuts (optional) & 200g light
muscovado sugar.
Frosting – 150g unsalted butter, 45g caster sugar
& 300g full fat cream cheese.
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line two
20cm round cake tins with greaseproof paper.
2. Break the eggs into a bowl, and lightly
whisk.
3. Add the vegetable oil to the eggs and whisk
again.
4. Add the grated carrots, raisins and orange zest
(100g of walnuts could also be added at this stage but I opted out).
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour,
nutmeg, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir in the sugar.
6. Add the wet carrot mixture to the dry
ingredients and mix well to combine, making sure there are no pockets of flour.
7. Spoon the cake batter into the two lined tins
and bake on the middle shelf for 30-35 minutes, until the cakes have risen and
is golden-brown all over.
8. Remove the tins from the oven and set aside in
the tin to cool for 10-15 mins,
9. While they are cooling make Mary Berry’s Drizzle
Syrup from her Spiced and Iced Carrot Cake from The Great British Bake Off
Everyday recipe book (Page 52). Combine the juices of the orange and lemon in
to a small saucepan. Add the sugar and heat gently until it has dissolved, then
boil for one minute.
10. Spoon drizzle syrup over the cakes whilst in the tin, leave to soak and cool completely
11. While the cake cools, make the frosting. Place the butter in a large bowl with the caster sugar, beat it for 2-3 minutes until light and creamy, then beat in the cream cheese until smooth.
12. Place the cake on to a serving plate or cake stand. Use a palette knife to spread the frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with walnuts, candied carrot or grated orange – whatever takes your fancy!
