Sam’s Carrot Cake
I’ve been making carrot cake to this recipe forever. It’s my bestie’s Mum’s recipe – I’ve still got the original ‘torn out of a Filofax’ sheet that my friend Sam scribbled it down on, clipped into my recipe folder. Those were the days when you organised your life using a Filofax. Mine was a hideous tapestry fabric affair. I think Sam’s was far more business-like.
Sam and her mum (whose pastry is a dream and who makes lemon curd pies instead of mince pies at Christmas) do much fancier icing than I do. Well sometimes I’ve been known to break out the fondant and cover my cake in little carrots.
I think this is my other half’s favourite cake. It’s been a birthday cake and a Christmas cake on more than one occasion.
But the beauty of this recipe is that it’s quite adaptable. Not just to gluten free, which is easy. But also to becoming a Parsnip & Cranberry cake, or a Courgette and Raisin. Not so sure? Don’t knock it ’til you try it!
And if you’d like to adapt the cream cheese icing to dairy free, Oatly’s crème fraîche is a great place to start. Simply subsitute Oatly Crème Fraîche for the cream cheese and carry on as normal, and you’re on to a winner.
Carrot Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 6 oz Caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 pt Sunflower or vegetable oil
- 8 oz Gluten free self raising flour I'm assuming your blend has Xantham gum in it. If not, add 1/4 tsp Xantham gum.
- 1 tsp Baking powder I'm assuming your self raising flour has a raising agent in it. If not, add another tsp of baking powder.
- 2 tsps Ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 8 oz Grated carrot Use the chunky side of the grater
- 4 oz Sultanas
Icing
- 3 oz cream cheese, or Oatly creme fraîche
- 6 oz icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 180°C / Gas mark 4. Grease and line a 8" loose bottomed cake tin.
- Beat sugar, eggs and oil together until well blended.
- Sift dry ingredients together and add to the egg mixture.
- Stir in the grated carrot and the sultanas.
- Pour mixture into tin and bake for 55 - 60 minutes until golden brown.
- Once the cake has cooled, make the icing.
- Beat the cream cheese or crème fraîche till smooth, then add sifted icing sugar. Add lemon juice to loosen to taste.
Notes
