Carrot Cake

I am not a big fan of carrot cake but there are worshipers here who absolutely love carrot cake. One of them happens to be S, who loves only this cake in the whole world. Even the sexiest of chocolate cake doesn't make him go week-on-the-knees. I make the carrot cake every year for his birthday with little variations, but since the past few years, I've been making it with whole-meal flour. I make them with fresh pineapple & frost it with toasted coconut cream cheese icing or a simple carrot cake with hazelnuts/walnuts/pecans (like here) & lemon cream cheese icing. This year I adapted Donna Hays recipe and the cake was fabulously moist and perfectly balanced. This one is for keepers!!

Carrot Cake
 Ingredients
220g brown sugar
185ml vegetable oil 
3 eggs 
225g whole-meal or AP flour 
1½ teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
½ teaspoon mixed spice 
½ teaspoon ground ginger 
About 5-6 med sized carrots grated 
60g chopped pecan /hazelnut or walnut 
60g sultanas 
Cream Cheese Icing 
250g cream cheese/mascarpone, softened 
3-4 tbsp icing sugar, sifted 
zest & Juice of ½ a lemon or 1-2tbsp lemon curd 
Method: 

Preheat oven to 180°C . Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2–3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, mixed spice and ginger over the sugar mixture. Add the carrot, nuts and sultanas and mix until just combined. Pour into 2 greased 8 inch-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin. 
 For the cream cheese icing: Beat the cream cheese in a food processor until smooth. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice/lemon curd and process until smooth. Spread frosting on the cooled cake as desired. I simply used it to sandwich the layer and just on top.

Carrot-Pecan-Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been making carrot cakes for a very long time now and each time I bake them, I have tried to customize it to the perfect taste I love. You can find a lot of recipes online, but to be honest, they are either too oily or too sweet. This time a friend of mine wanted these for a party at her place and after successfully baking two unsuccessful recipes, I ended up making these cupcakes and they were perfect! I have added pecans instead of the traditional walnuts (somehow "S" doesn't like the oily taste walnuts have), made them with vanilla-orange-lemon sugar (for more flavour), used a bit of fresh grated ginger and instead of pineapple, this time I used dessicated coconut. For the cream cheese frosting I used a splash of cream along with butter and cream cheese. I sometimes omit the cream cheese totally and use mascarpone instead. I would say this icing is to die for, so its worth taking the extra effort of making it. I also made some marzipan carrots to decorate it just for fun. I was amazed at how friends at the party thought I have used blanched baby carrots!

Carrot-Pecan-Coconut Cupcakes (Makes 12 Med size)

Ingredients

Plain Flour - 150g

*Sugar - 150g (or light brown sugar)

Grated Carrots - 150g

Oil - 150ml

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

Ground Clove - 1/4 tsp

Mixed Spice - 1/4 tsp

Grated Ginger - 1 tsp

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Raisins - 25g

Dessicated Coconut - 50g

Pecans chopped - 75g

Eggs - 2

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the eggs and sugar until pale. Add oil, Vanilla extract and beat for a minute or two. Stir in the grated carrots and  ginger, beat well. Sift the dry ingredients twice and toss the nuts, raisins and coconut. Slowly add the dry ingredients in three goes into the wet and fold until well incorporated. Divide the mixture into muffin tins, lined with paper cases, until 3/4 full. Bake for about 20-25 min or until skewer inserted in the centre comes off clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack completely before icing.

For the Cream Cheese Icing

Cream Cheese - 200g

Soft unsalted Butter - 50g

Fresh Cream - 60ml 

Icing Sugar - 150g (use upto 300g if you need sweeter icing)

Vanilla Extract - 1tsp

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar until light (you will be covered in icing sugar so try adding a little at a time). Add the cream cheese, vanilla extract and fresh cream and beat slowly till peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe as desired over the cooled cupcakes. Decorate with marzipan carrots or pecans. This can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, but do bring it to room temperature before serving to enjoy the luscious smooth icing.

*To make the vanilla-lemon-orange sugar, whizz the zest of a lemon and orange in a mixer and mix with the required quantity of vanilla sugar. Use immediately or else might form lumps. 

Verdict: This is one of those cakes that never lasts in my house. Absolute favourite of "S"s, he even wanted this for his birthday. This has even managed to convert a friend who is a complete chocolate cake lover. If you cant be bothered to make the icing just the warm slice of cake with coffee or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side is absolute heaven. But the gorgeous creamy icing really compliments the cake.