Hello my loves,
My Nan & Auntie Jan have always been huge inspirations to me. There are so many reasons as to why they inspire me but one is their amazing cookery skills. As soon as I was old enough to get my hands dirty, they both taught me how to cook all different kinds of tasty treats but the main one being cakes. One thing I’ll always thank my Nan & Auntie Jan for is teaching me so many lessons in the kitchen which will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Since I can remember, my Nan & Auntie have ALWAYS made the best carrot cake. There’s no doubt about it, I’ve never tasted one that comes close to amazing one they both whip up in the kitchen. Every year my Auntie makes one for the church fair and it’s always the first one to be all sold out, it certainly is a favourite by all. So I’ve decided to take on the challenge of making my own carrot cake today, I know it won’t ever be in the same league as theirs but I’m giving it a go.
It’s because of my Nan & Auntie I cook today and for that, Nan, Jan, I dedicate this carrot cake recipe to YOU! Thank you for being the best.
Ingredients For Carrot Cake:
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 pint / 300mls of corn oil
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 12oz / 350g of soft brown sugar
- 8oz / 225g of self raising wholemeat flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 8oz / 225g of carrots – peeled and grated
- 8oz / 225g of walnuts – finely chopped
How To Make The Carrot Cake Base:
- Firstly gather all your ingredients, equipment and grease and line a deep 8in/20.5cm round cake tin. preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 350 f / 180 oC at least 10 minutes before baking the cake.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the 4 large eggs, 300mls of corn oil, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and the 12oz of soft brown sugar until thoroughly mixed.
- Next, sieve the wholemeal flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon into the egg mixture and fold in using a metal spoon.
- Then, fold in the grated carrot and 6oz / 175g of finely chopped walnuts.
- Now, spoon the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 60-75 minutes or until risen and firm.
- Once cooked, a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack for further cooling.
Ingredients For Frosting:
- 8oz / 225g of full fat cream cheese – TIP: use Philadelphia cream cheese.
- 4oz / 100g of good quality butter or margarine, softened
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 8oz / 225g of icing sugar
- 1/2 small carrot – peeled and sliced
- Mint sprigs to decorate
How To Make Frosting:
- Firstly, gather all your equipment and ingredients.
- Next, cream together the 4oz of butter and 8oz of icing sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.
- Then, add the 8oz of cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix together.
- Once mixed, use an electric whisk to gently whisk together and remove any lumps.
- Now you’ve removed all lumps and the icing is smooth in texture – cover the icing and place in the fridge until required.
- Place the remaining chopped walnuts on a clean board.
- Spread the one third of frosting around the sides of the cake and spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake and carefully sprinkle the walnuts.
And that’s your creamy, moist carrot cake baked and decorated!
I really hope you liked today’s post and it’s inspired you to do some baking this week. You cannot beat the classic carrot cake as it melts in your mouth!
if you do make this yourself, please do let me know by either commenting below or tagging me in your photos – I’d love to see your recreations.
Sending tons of love to you all as always,
Elle xo
Carrot cake is probably. Y favourite thing to bake (and eat!) and yours looks absolutely amazing! I might have to pinch your recipe and give it a try, if you don’t mind. I’m sure my husband would like this! X BeautyBlitzBlog.com
Carrot cake is my favourite cake! Will keep this recipe in my fave and try it out sometime soon as it looks sooo good 😀
Kirsty
http://www.corinneandkirsty.com
Blooming heck, that looks incredible! I can’t wait to try this 🙂 xo
http://www.aliceandtheadventure.com