Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe makes the most yummy, moist carrot cake ever. People who have eaten it have told me its the best carrot cake they have ever tasted. I don't add walnuts into my carrot cake, but you can add them in if you like.

I find the cake best eaten a day or 2 after you make this cake. Great if you want to prepare for a party in advance. Make the cake and store it in a cake tin, then you can frost it on the day.


The recipe below for frosting makes a really yummy cream cheese frosting, but I find it quite runny and pretty much impossible to pipe. If you want a cream cheese frosting that will pipe then I found a recipe from Cupcake Jemma.

Recipe originally sourced from: http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/528351

Makes 1 18cm diameter round cake, or 12 individual cupcakes. Double the recipe to make a 2 layer cake.

Ingredients

·         150 g plain flour

·         1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         1 tsp cinnamon

·         150 g caster sugar

·         250 g coarsely grated carrots

·         150 ml corn/vegetable oil

·         2 eggs, beaten

·         1 tsp vanilla essence

For the frosting

·         50 g butter, room temperature

·         75 g full-fat cream cheese

·         1/2 tsp vanilla essence

·         100 g icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease and line an 18cm diameter round cake tin. 

2. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in the caster sugar and carrots. 

3. Pour in the oil, and add the eggs and vanilla essence. Stir to mix, and then beat for one minute until everything is combined. 

4. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of an oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. Remove the cake from the oven and leave on one side for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack. Leave to cool completely. For cupcakes, bake for 20-25 minutes.

5. For the frosting, beat the butter until smooth, and add the cream cheese and vanilla essence. Gradually stir in the icing sugar. This will make a soft frosting, if you want the frosting to be thicker and able to pipe you will need to decrease the amount of cream cheese you add into the mixture. Make up the frosting, leaving out the cream cheese, then add in the desired amount of cream cheese for the consistency you require.

6. Spread the frosting over the cake. Cut into generous wedges and serve.