Moist & spicy carrot cake
With Mother’s day ahead this Sunday, I will be sharing some of my favourite cakes in the next few days. All easy, and special. This spicy carrot cake remains my favourite one, because I love the rich cream cheese icing. I often omit the milk with one cup crushed pineapple (just drain slightly) and the cake becomes super moist and will keep even much longer. The spices is also fitting for a carrot cake. If you do not feel like, or do not have cream cheese (although I really think it makes this cake special), you can use a buttercream icing, or omit and dust with icing sugar for a healthier option.
Makes 1 large cake
625 ml (350 g) self-raising flour
10 ml bicarbonate of soda
2 ml salt
10 ml ground cinnamon
3 ml ground ginger
3 extra-large eggs
100 ml milk
300 ml cooking oil
250 ml (200 g) soft brown sugar
125 ml (50 g) pecan nuts or walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 medium carrots, coarsely grated (about 625 ml)
Cream cheese icing
60 g butter or margarine, softened
625 ml (325 g) icing sugar, sifted
100 g cream cheese
5 ml vanilla essence
5 ml grated lemon rind (optional)
extra chopped pecan nuts to decorate
1. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices together.
2. Beat eggs, milk, oil and sugar together until thick and creamy.
3. Add dry ingredients, alternately with nuts and carrots, to egg mixture and mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into a greased 23 cm loose-bottom spring form cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 50–60 minutes. Leave in pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Icing: Cream butter and icing sugar together. Add cream cheese, essence and lemon rind and beat lightly to a smooth, spreadable consistency. Do not over-mix. Ice top of cake with cream cheese icing and decorate with extra chopped nuts.
Tip
To make your own self-raising flour; add 5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder to 140 g (1 cup) cake flour. At sea level, increase baking powder to 7 ml (1¼ tsp) for every 140 g (1 cup) cake flour.
Variations
– Omit milk. Add 250 ml crushed pineapple, slightly drained, to mixture.
– Decorate with chopped pine nuts, pumpkin seeds or dried cranberries.