Carrot, Orange & Walnut Cake

The humble carrot is cheap and in plentiful supply in our shops at the moment. So, I thought, what better time to bake up a carrot cake?

There are already a whole host of carrot cake recipes out there, so I read through a few before deciding how I would approach mine.

I was looking to make a single tier traybake, incorporating mixed spice, sultanas and walnuts alongside the carrot, topped off by a cream cheese frosting with the tang of orange zest.

I actually found a Mary Berry recipe that was more or less what I had in mind, so was largely influenced by that. Cheers, Mary! My only real deviation was to throw a handful of sultanas into the cake mix, as I really like the added juiciness they bring.

I was pleased with the results – that’s it in my photo at the top of the post – and it has gone down well in the ADK household.

The orange cream cheese frosting is irresistible. I strongly advise dipping your little finger in once it’s made, scooping some up for a preliminary taste test before spreading the rest on the cake. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

Servings

This will give you around 16 slices.

Timings

30 mins to prepare, 40 mins to bake at 160C in a fan oven. Make the frosting while the cake is baking and allow 5 mins more to apply it when the cake has cooled.

You Will Need

For the Cake

• 225g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 150g light brown sugar
• 50g chopped walnuts
• 50g sultanas
• 2 eggs
• 150 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp milk
• 200g coarsely grated carrot

For the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

• 100g unsalted butter
• 200g cream cheese
• 250g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 orange
• handful of chopped walnuts

Method

1. Grease and line a traybake tin. The one I used is 22cm square. Switch a fan oven on to 160C.
2. Sieve the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and mixed spice into a bowl. Sprinkle in the sugar, chopped nuts and sultanas.
3. Mix the eggs, oil, milk and grated carrot in a separate bowl.
4. When the oven is up to temp, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly with a spatula until no dry ingredients are showing. Scrape into the traybake tin and level. Put in the oven for 35 – 40 mins.
5. While the cake is baking, make the orange cream cheese frosting. Place the butter, cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla and orange zest in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until thick and creamy. Place the bowl in the fridge until required.
6. Check if the cake is fully baked – the top should be browning and a skewer inserted in the middle come out dry. If it is, take from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin.
7. Once cool, remove carefully from the tin and spread the orange cream cheese frosting all over. Top with the chopped walnuts.
8. Cut into slices and serve.

Customise It!

Swap in some chopped toasted pecans for the walnuts if you wish. Frosted toppings like this often look good with a sprinkle of edible blue cornflower petals, if you have them. They are more about visual effect and presentation, though, rather than adding to the taste.

Here’s a song that came on Spotify while this traybake was in the oven. I hadn’t come across it for a while, and remembered how good it was, so here it is: Birmingham post-punk band The Au Pairs with It’s Obvious.