Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves 12
Ingredients
180g (6½ oz) self-raising (self-rising) flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp mixed spice (Pumpkin pie spice)
2 eggs
150 ml (5 fl oz) vegetable or sunflower oil
200g (7 oz) soft light or dark brown sugar
300g (11 oz) grated carrots
100g (4 oz) sultanas
75g (3 oz) walnuts, chopped (optional)
Cream Cheese Icing
75g (3 oz) cream cheese
75g (3 oz) softened butter
125g (4½ oz) icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
For Decoration
Sprinkles or walnut halves - optional
You will need a 13cm x 23cm (5 in x 9 in) loaf tin, oil and line the loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas mark 2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl and leave aside. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, now add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, sultanas and chopped walnuts. Stir in all sifted dry ingredients and bring the mixture together with a wooden spoon. Turn into the prepared tin, smooth the top of the mixture and bake in the oven for 1 – 1¼ hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.
To make The Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and mix to combine. Using a palette knife, spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cooled cake. Add the sprinkles or walnut halves if desired. Served cut into slices.
Notes:
2. I would advise you to store this cake in a cool place due to the cream cheese icing.
3. If using plain (all-purpose) flour - The rule of thumb is that for every 100g (4oz) of flour you will need to add 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Happy Carrot Cake Baking!
3 July 2009 at 07:49
Thanks for another great recipe, Rosie. I was wondering if there was a substitute for the pumpkin spice or can we leave it out, since we don't get it here in India.
3 July 2009 at 09:23
Hi Rosie,
I cannot wait to try the Carrot Cake. Can you explain to me what mixed spice means.I know you said pumpkin spice but i do not think we have it here in South Africa. Is there anything else that i can use? Thanks
3 July 2009 at 09:43
Hi Arundathi & Anju , you could use a little ground ginger in place of mixed spice. Although it is not the same spice, it would give a lovely round flavour to the cake. Of course, mixed spice can just be left out.
Mixed spice typically contains:
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Allspice
Best wishes Rosie x
3 July 2009 at 12:03
yet another delicious bake... can't wait to try. it am afraid my waist line might increase very soon, because i am the only one with the sweet tooth in the house.. :) This time i will invite some one over to finish the cake...
3 July 2009 at 15:26
Hi Usha, I'm glad you like the look of this month's bake. Hey, have you thought of an afternoon tea party with the girls? One way of showing off your baking skills and having a great time ;0)
Best wishes Rosie x
6 July 2009 at 16:24
Rosie, this is a great cake and one of my favourites! I'm looking forward to making this one!
Maria
x
6 July 2009 at 19:00
Is icing sugar, the same as confectionary sugar? If not, I do not know what it is.
Hubby should like this since he likes what I call veggie cakes, those that use carrots, zucchini or any other vegetable. It is amazing how we can take these vegetables and transform them into sweetness.
6 July 2009 at 20:34
Hi Maria, awe thanks mate and I do hope you will be able to join us, that would be really lovely :0)
Rosie x
8 July 2009 at 14:14
Hi Rosie and Maria, I'm trying to print off the recipe (paste and copy, then print), but it's coming out garlbed. Any ideas please?
Kelly-Jane
8 July 2009 at 16:05
Hi Chaya, yes you are so correct, icing sugar is the same as confectionary sugar :0)
It's nice to incorporate veggies in a bake and carrots make the sponge so very moist and give sweetness!
Happy Baking!
Best wishes Rosie x
8 July 2009 at 16:14
Hi K.J.
I am sorry to hear this! I thought I'd better try and see if I could get a copy of the recipe with pics. What I did was, highlight the whole text and photos required then paste back into word on my P.C. and it worked fine but the date does scramble which I always remove from my copy.
I hope this helps K.J. if not send an email into sweet2simple[at]googlemail[dot]com and I will send you the recipe on.
Best wishes Rosie x