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Carrot cake

Carrot cake

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This super-moist carrot cake is smothered with delicious cream cheese. Use sunflower oil instead of butter in this traditional recipe. It's time to indulge

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hr
(plus 10 mins cooling time)
Total time: 1 hr 10 mins
Serves: 8
Skill level: Bit of effort
Costs: Mid-price

Child friendly
Freezable
Make in advance

Ingredients

You can wrap the undecorated carrot cake in a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. Defrost before icing.

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For the cake:

175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 level tsp ground mixed spice
Pinch of salt
150ml (¼ pint) sunflower oil
175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar
3 medium eggs
100g (3½ oz) raisins
250g (8oz) carrots, peeled and grated

For the 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 mark 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.

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Nutritional information per portion

Calories 481(kcal)
Fat 29.0g
Saturates 10.0g
Sugars 38.0g
Salt 0.6g

This nutritional information is only a guide and is based on 2,000 calories per day. For more information on eating a healthy diet, please visit the Food Standards Agency website.

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.

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Your comments

samantha, posted 1 year ago

This is the FIRST TIME I made a carrot cake and it TASTES GREAT!!!! I followed the recipe, It was realy easy. And the cake is beauitful, I even designed the carrot icing on top. THANK YOU

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A. da Costa, posted 1 year ago

Instead of cream cheese use fromage frais with 1or 2% fat...You can also get creme fraiche with half fat @ any super market...tesco, asda, sainsbury's et al. Enjoy. A. Da Costa

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angela, posted 1 year ago

can any one suggest another cream topping without using cream cheese

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Windy, posted 1 year ago

If you melt Sugar in a frying pan then put small carrots in it untill they are warm put them beside a slice of carrot cake and it tastes fantastic.

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nan kinning, posted 1 year ago

I add a good handful of chunky walnut peices to this recipe and it is delicious with the extra bite.

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Magda, posted 2 years ago

I love to add a bit of lemon and cinnamon to the topping on my carrot cakes - delicious.

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Pat, posted 2 years ago

this cake is still good without the topping. A syrup glaze is a change from cheese. to make the syrup: Juice of one small orange 1 tablespoon of lemon juice 3 oz soft dark brown sugar (75g) A soon as you put the cake in the oven start to make the glaze Take the cake from the oven and immediately stab the cake thoroughly all over with a thickish skewer then pour the syrup over the cake, it will flood the surface - doesn't matter leave it to cool in the tin and eventually all the syrup will be absorbed. WHEN LINING MAKE SURE THE PAPER COMES WELL ABOVE THE THE EDGE OF THE TIN OTHERWISE YOU WILL HAVE A FLOOD!!

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percy shroff, posted 2 years ago

Hi my name is Percy. I am studying in Chichester College and like to learn bakery and pastry course this type of receipe really helped me in my future study thanking you very much.I

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Tina, posted 2 years ago

ive never made a carot cake before and was scared b4 i did it but it was real easy

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