Carrot cake

Cake ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried coconut
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup sultanas

Icing ingredients:

• 250 grams cream cheese
• 125 grams softened butter
• 1 & 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Hot water as needed

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease 2 x 23cm round cake tins.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, spices and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix the oil and sugar together until well blended. Add the eggs and incorporate into the oil and sugar. Then, add the rest of the ingredients to this mix.
• Add the pre-mixed dry ingredients into the mixture into the large bowl in 2-3 lots, taking care to mix in well after each addition.
• Pour half the batter into each prepared cake tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes for ten minutes in the tins, then turn out onto a baking rack.
• When completely cool, ice the cakes. Beat the cream cheese and butter together and the incorporate the icing sugar and lemon juice. Thin if desired using a small amount of hot water.
• Sandwich the cakes together with the icing and top with remainder.

‘Carrot’ might not be first up when you think ‘I fancy something sweet’ but they are undeniably delicious and we have their sweetness to thank for carrot cake. Carrot cake in some form or other has been enjoyed for quite some time, including the Middle Ages and apparently George Washington’s table. It was Second World War rationing, with carrots replacing a lot of sugar, that really helped to firm up its position in our modern palettes.

This one featured here had been knocking around in my imagination for quite some time, with many weeks of my thinking ‘I fancy something carrot-cakey.’ And, if I must be perfectly honest, that imagining was completed by the vision of said cake slathered with a generous amount of cream cheese icing.

Carrot cakes can be a bit of a hassle to make, what with all of that grating of carrots (fingers, ouch!) but I have worked on this recipe to at least minimise the amount of bowls and therefore dishwashing. It is worth it too, as I find this one always disappears quickly – I hope you find it’s worth it too!