Carrot Cake reminds me of my first job out of school. Most days on our 11am break we would pop around to the local bakery and pick up goodies! The bakery has closed for business some time now. They had the most amazing bakes, from coffee cake to apple turnovers. But the carrot cake was by far my favourite. I didn’t feel guilty eating it as after all it is one of your five a day after all 😉
I have tried many recipes to replicate that carrot cake and this one matches all my memories. It deliciously moist, has the just the right amount of spice. The orange in the icing marry all the flavours to make one moreish mouthful! And an extra bonus is that it is super easy to make.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 150 ml sunflower or vegetable oil
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 300 g peeled and grated carrots (weight when grated)
- 75 g walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 175 g self-raising flour
- 1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- pinch of salt
For the icing
- 50g Softened unsalted butter
- 125g full fat cream cheese
- 300g Icing Sugar
- finely grated zest of 1 orange
Method
- Preheat the oven to 150°C, grease and line the base of two 8 inch cake tins with baking parchment.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl to break them up, then whisk in the oil, sugar, grated carrots and chopped nuts.
- Sift in the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture together using a spoon.
- Divide the mixture between the prepared tins, smoothing the surface with a palette knife, and bake in the oven for between 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then carefully lift the cake out of the tin and place on a wire rack to cool down fully before you ice it.
- While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Beat all the ingredients together, then use a palette knife to spread evenly over the cake.
Happy baking,
Bácáil with Love (Bake with Love)
Bácáil with Love 