Happy Sweet Sunday! We're in for another warm, sunny week which is certainly helping any lockdown blues. But if the sun doesn't perk you up, this cake certainly will!
I've used this carrot cake recipe for years and see absolutely no point in trying any others because this one is perfect. Everyone I've baked it for LOVES it. I can't take credit for it as it's a Mary Cadogan recipe from BBC Good Food. The sponge is light and moist (and stays that way even after a few days). I tend to bake in a loaf tin, but I've also used the same recipe for cupcakes, muffins and larger sandwich cakes. The only major changes I've ever made are to the icing - this recipe is perfect for a loaf cake with an orangey drizzle over the top, but you can add a cream cheese or buttercream swirl to cupcakes instead.
I use sultanas instead of raisins; I've always preferred them as they're just juicier. I've also used dark muscovado sugar in the past as that was all I had and it works just fine!
Ingredients 175g light muscovado sugar 175ml sunflower oil 3 large eggs, beaten 140g grated carrot 100g sultanas 1 large orange, zest only 175g self raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (or freshly grated if you have it for a stronger flavour) For the icing: 175g icing sugar 1 1/2 - 2 tsp orange juice Method 1. Pre heat the oven to 180C and line the base and sides of a square (18-20cm) or large loaf cake tin with baking paper. 2. Mix together the muscovado sugar, sunflower oil and eggs. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange zest. 3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix to combine - this is quite a runny mixture. 4. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until firm and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack, peel off the paper and leave to cool completely before icing. 5. While the cake is cooling, mix together the icing sugar and orange juice until you have a mixture that's easy to drizzle but not super runny (think pouring cream). Once the cake is cool, liberally drizzle over the icing and then try not to eat it all at once!