Carrot Cake

Ahhhh, finally the work is all done and handed in and Uni is over! but more on that later... I have a cake to share :)

Carrot Cake.

This little beauty went down a storm in my house and only lasted 2days! Luckily when my Dad and his girlfriend came to visit on Sunday there was a piece left that they could share haha. My Dad usually stays away from carrot cake because he finds it dry and isnt a fan of walnuts, but he really liked this and i quote 'much better than shop bought!' (walnuts let it down apparently, but what can ya do?!? ha) I like to think anything home made is better than shop bought but my dad can be a fussy old sausage! Anyway if you would like to try this cake here is the recipe, you can find it here or just follow these instructions :)

• 350g/12oz light soft brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 350ml/12floz sunflower oil
• 350g/12oz plain flour
• 7.5ml/11/2tsp baking powder
• 5ml/1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 10ml/2tsp ground cinnamon
• 5ml/1tsp ground ginger
• 350g/12oz carrots, peeled and grated
• 75g/3oz finely chopped walnuts or raisins

For the icing:

• 350g/12oz icing sugar
• 50g/2oz soft butter
• 5ml/1tsp vanilla essence
• 150g/5oz cold cream cheese
• Walnut halves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/Fan 150ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3.
2. Lightly oil three sandwich tins and base line with baking parchment.
3. Place the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Sift over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger then fold in until well mixed. Fold in the carrots and walnuts or raisins.
4. Divide the mixture between the prepared cake tins. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 mins or until golden, risen and the middle bounces back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. For the icing: Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl, add the soft butter and vanilla essence. Use an electric whisk on low, to beat this until it is well mixed. Add the cream cheese and briefly beat together again until just combined. Don’t over beat or it will become runny.
6. When the cakes are cold, peel away the baking parchment. Divide the icing between the three cakes, spreading it evenly over the top of each. Stack the cakes one on top of the other. Top with the walnut halves and cinnamon. Store in a cool place.

enjoy! x