Until you put the topping on this tasty, moist carrot cake, you can almost kid yourself that the carrots and raisins make it really good for you. But then comes loads of delicious cream cheese – check out our Guideline Daily Amounts for nutritional facts.
Each portion contains…
Calories Sugars Fat Saturates Salt
481 38g 29g 10g 0.6g
24% 42% 41% 50% 10%
… of an adult’s Guideline Daily Amount
Serves: 8
Ingredients
For the carrot cake:
175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 level tsp ground mixed spice
Pinch of salt
150ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar
3 medium eggs
100g (3 1/2oz) raisins
250g (8oz) carrots, peeled and grated
For the carrot cake topping:
200g (7oz) cream cheese
Few drops vanilla extract
3-4 level tbsp icing sugar
Orange and green food colouring
Method
- To make the carrot cake, tip the flour into a bowl and stir in the baking powder, spice and salt. Then stir in all the remaining ingredients until well mixed. Pour the mixture into a 1kg (2lb) loaf tin, buttered and lined with a strip of baking parchment.
- Bake in centre of oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for about 1 hour, until just firm to the touch in the centre. A skewer should come out clean after being inserted into the middle.
- Remove from the oven. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- To make the topping, beat together the cream cheese and vanilla extract. Add icing sugar to taste.
- Colour a small amount of icing orange and a small amount green, and use to fill a disposable piping bag each. Spread the remaining uncoloured icing over the top of the cake.
- Cut the end off the bag with the orange icing to give a small hole, and pipe tapered zigzags, to resemble carrots. Cut the end off the green icing bag into a ‘V’ shape and pipe leaves.
- Top tip: You can wrap the undecorated carrot cake in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost before icing.