Every body loves carrot cake right?! RIGHT! We love it! Carrot cake is as healthy as a cake gets. What with all that carrot in there to counter-act against the sugar and the butter… it must be doing something.
Well, its my cake so im going to eat it and hopefully you will too.
CAKE
225g unsalted, softened (plus extra for greasing)
225g light brown sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
225g carrots, peeled and grated. (fresh and firm ones will be best!)
150g walnuts, chopped
50g sultanas, chopped
Serves 8. Preparation time 25mins, plus 2 hours cooling. Cooking time 45-55 mins.
EQUIPMENT: 20cm springform/loose bottomed cake tin (about 7cm deep)
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees c. Butter cake tin and line with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time (mix well). Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl and add half of it at a time to the butter mixture, each time mixing until just incorporated.
3. In another bowl, combine the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and chopped sultanas and stir this through the cake mixture. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes approximately – make sure that when skewer inserted in the centre of the cake it comes out clean.
4. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then gently ease it out of the cake tin and allow to cool completely (can take up to two hours). Now we make the icing.
ICING
500g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter, softened
200g cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp mild honey
Preparation time 15mins.
1. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Do this twice then set aside.
2. In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (electric mixer will work best). Add the cream cheese and beat for another minute on high speed. Now add a third of the sifted icing sugar and mix well on a low speed. Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix again. Add the honey and beat until you have a creamy texture. Chill until needed.
ICING THE CAKE
When you are ready to ice the cooled cake, place it on a serving plate or cake stand. Using a large serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally, then carefully lift off the top half and set aside. Using a palette knife, ice the other half and then put the top back on. Spread remaining icing over the top of the cake then drizzle with extra honey. YUM YUM YUM!
This recipe was lovingly shared from ‘Peyton and Byrne – British Baking’. If you have a sweet tooth or loved this recipe you should add this to your cooking collection as I’m positive it will come to alot of use.
