Carrot Cake – Best Ever

Here’s a recipe for an excellent carrot cake. ‘Mega good and keeps for ages’ I have scrawled next to the blotchy ‘typed on a typewriter’ (how quaint) recipe.

It can’t be that old it comes with metric measurements as well

9 0z/250g wholemeal flour

60z/175g raw brown sugar (dark)

3 size 3 eggs (I just use 3 whatever size eggs I’ve got)

6 fl oz or 175ml sunflower oil

2 fl oz or 55ml soured cream or plain yoghurt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla essence

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 level teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

11oz/300g grated carrots

30z/75g desiccated coconut

Pre-heat oven to gas mark 2/ 300 degree F /150 degrees C

You will need one 8 inch round tin or square or rectangular equivalent, lined with greaseproof paper, and two mixing bowls.

In the first bowl place the eggs, oil, vanilla essence and soured cream or yoghurt, then sieve the sugars into to avoid lumps (I never bother – yes the brown sugars do tend to lumps but I just stir vigourously, sifting sugar is really dull, there are better thing to do with time)

Into the other bowl you sift the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, soda and salt.

Now beat the wet ingredients and sugars together, then fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the carrots and then the coconut. Mix well to distribute everything evenly and spoon into cake tin (lined) back in centre shelf for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (I’ve never left it that long but then I have a fan oven – it’s usually done in an hour but stick a dry spagetti stick in and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked)

For the topping

40z/110g unsalted butter

1 x 300g tub of cream cheese

5oz/150g of icing sugar sieved

Walnut halves to decorate

I find this makes way too much so I slice the cake in half and put it in the middle of the cake as well as on top which is very indulgent. You could just make less topping.

Enjoy! It’s not a cake, it’s one of your ‘five a day’.