Weekly Recipe: Carrot Cake with a Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

For the cake:

150g melted unsalted butter                                                   1 tsp. ground cinnamon

(plus a little extra for greasing)                                               ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

150g soft light brown sugar                                                    1 tsp. mixed spice

3 large free range eggs                                                          zest of 1 orange

200g self-raising flour or wholemeal self-raising flour            100g raisins or sultanas (optional)

1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda                                                      200g grated carrots peeled & grated

½ tsp. salt                                                                               100g pecans or walnuts

For the frosting:

100g softened butter                                                               1 tsp. cinnamon

225g cream cheese                                                                1 tsp. vanilla extract

480g-500g icing sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C/gas mark 4. Grease two 18cm sandwich tins and line with greaseproof parchment.

  2. Put the butter, sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk until fully combined and roughly doubled in volume. You can use a hand mixer for ease.

  3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices into a separate bowl and fold it into the wet ingredients carefully, trying not to knock the air out of it. Add the rest of the ingredients; carrots, nuts etc, divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Bake for 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

  4. Whilst the cake is baking, you can make the filling and topping. Mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth, sift the icing sugar and cinnamon and add to the mix a little at a time until it is all combined. Add the vanilla extract and mix thoroughly. The mix should be ok to spread with a palette knife. If it’s too runny add more icing sugar, if too thick, put some hot water in a larger bowl and lower the mixing bowl containing the icing into it, stirring continuously and pressing the mix against the side of the bowl until the mixture thins.

  5. Once the cakes are cooked turn them out onto a cooling rack and leave until cool before spreading an even layer of icing into the middle and onto the top of the cake. Decorate with some remaining nuts.

Toms Top Tips:

I’ve found that Pecan and Walnut halves tend to be quite expensive, so I recommend buying the crushed variety as they tend to be cheaper. Everyone has their own preference but I think they create a pleasant variety in texture. Enjoy!