The Perfect Carrot Cake
Ingredients for the cake
350g carrots
70g raisins
230g wholewheat flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
236ml vegetable oil
170g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons golden syrup OR apple or date or plum sauce
I use oats in place of the nuts for obvious reasons!
Ingredients for the topping
7 oz cream cheese
2 oz softened unsalted butter
2 oz sifted icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
These quantities make a 9 round cake.
Start off by grating 12½ oz carrots and chopping 2 oz pecans. Put to one side.
Sieve flour with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda. (Tip the bran bits left in the sieve into the mixture.)
Whisk together 8 fl oz vegetable oil, 6 oz soft brown sugar, 4 eggs and 2 tablespoons golden syrup. (Heat the spoon first and the syrup will slide off easily.)
Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until its nice and smooth. Stir in the carrots and pecans.
Tip the mixture into a greased lined tin and cook at 160C for an hour, or until cooked.
For the topping, mix 7 oz cream cheese, 2 oz softened unsalted butter, 2 oz sifted icing sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, until smooth.
Allow the cake to cool and then add the topping
This cake will keep for a few days in an airtight container. That is, if you can resist it that long!
