Who doesn't love a moist carrot cake. Try whipping up this recipe with vanilla cream cheese frosting and let us know how it turns out.
Get prepped
- Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius
- Line a 20cm round cake tin with butter and greaseproof paper (or sprinkle flour over butter if you don't have the paper)
Ingredients
Cake*
- 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
- 1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup (105g) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bi carb soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup firmly packed grated carrot
- Optional: 1/2 cup (60g) chopped walnuts (I like to toast these first for extra flavour)
Icing**
- 250g cream cheese
- 4 cups of sifted icing sugar (not mixture)
- 1 tbsp softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- Pinch of sea salt
Method
- Mix brown sugar, oil and eggs together until well combined
- Sift in flour, bicarb soda, baking powder and spices - don't mix just yet!
- Add grated carrot and gently fold all ingredients until just mixed
- Optional: fold in the chopped walnuts
- Transfer mixture into your prepared tin and place in the oven for 25 minutes. Once cooked, it should be golden on top and a skewer should come out clean. If there is still batter on the stick, cook for a further 5 minutes and check again
- Leave it in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting (or it will melt right off!)
- Whilst your cake is cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting.
- Whisk cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy (the colour should change and become lighter). Add the icing sugar one cup at a time and mix after each addition. Then add the vanilla and salt to taste.
- Once the cake has cooled, it's time for frosting! I like to add a sprinkle of toasted walnuts over the top as well for extra flavour and texture.
- Enjoy a generous slice with your favourite cup of tea!
*You can double this recipe very easily for a larger cake tin or to make a multi-layer cake. If doubling, cook for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
**This will make a generous amount of frosting for a 20cm round cake and some to spare. You can keep it in a clean, air tight container in the fridge for several weeks (although it never lasts that long around me).
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com, Inc
