Baking with Brendan - Kerry Carrot Cake

After last weeks insult to Swiss Rolls, Brendan has vowed to make a better offering to one of his favourite desserts, the Carrot Cake!

This is a recipe by the one and only Rachel Allen, with a few slight twists from her original.

With 300g of grated carrot, this recipe would go down a treat with Bugs Bunny!

Carrot Cake

For Carrot Cake

1. 140ml oz vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
2. 2 free-range eggs
3. 200g light brown sugar
4. 300g grated carrot (grated weight)
5. 75g pecans, walnuts & sunflower seeds (chopped)
6. 180g self-raising flour
7. 1 pinch salt
8. ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
9. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
10. ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
11. ½ tsp mixed spice

For the cream cheese icing

• 180g full-fat cream cheese, chilled (1 tub of Philadelphia oiginal)
• 50g butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 50g icing sugar, sifted

Mixed softened Butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Sift in icing sugar and mix until smothened (if that's a word)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2. Oil and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin (approximately 13x23cm/5x9in) with baking paper.
2. For the carrot cake, beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts.
3. Sift in the remaining cake ingredients and mix using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
6. For the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and orange zest and mix until the icing is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.

 Notes:

If you have left over batter you can sprinkle in an extra pinch of cinnamon and light brown sugar to make small carrot cake cookies! They're basically like gingernut biscuits but a little more chewy and delicious!!