I recently did some catering for an event and decided to make a carrot and walnut type loaf. I searched high and low around the internet till I found a recipe on the trusty BBC good food website. I liked the idea of using half regular self raising flour and half wholemeal and without the icing its a slightly healthy option for a cake as you're using oil instead of butter, also great for those who are dairy free. Annoyingly my icing came out a little runnier as I got impatient waiting for the butter to soften so gave it a helping hand. Don't be like me if though, just leave it out overnight.
I have to add, this cake is so moist (I love that word) and moorish and keeps for a few days (if it lasts that long without being eaten that is) and is a great accompaniment for your
Recipe slightly adapted from BBC Good Food
You will need-
- Zest & Juice of 1 orange
- 50g sultanas
- 150ml sunflower oil plus some from greasing
- 2 free range eggs
- 140g soft light brown sugar
- 85g self raising flour
- 85g wholemeal self-raising flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground mixed spice
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 140g carrots, grated
- 50g chopped walnuts plus some halves for decorating.
Icing
- 200g soft cheese
- 50g butter, softened
- 85g icing sugar cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
The recipe suggests that you soak the sultanas in the orange juice and zest overnight or to microwave the mixture on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. As I didn't plan ahead and don't have a microwave (shock horror) I left mine to sit on top of my oven for a few hours whilst I did some other baking and it seemed to work fine.
So, pre-heat your oven to 180C and grease and line a loaf tin with some oil and greaseproof paper (it should be a 2lb tin). In a large bowl mix together the flours, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice and bicarbonate then add the sultanas along with the juice and zest, grated carrot and walnuts.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil and add to the flour mixture. Mix it all really well the pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around an hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
To make the icing use an electric whisk and start by beating the butter so its really soft and creamy and then add the soft cheese, icing sugar & vanilla till you have a really smooth consistency (don't be impatient like me and use firm butter). Remove the loaf from the tin and spread the icing on. Decorate with the walnut halves if you want to bit a little fancy.
Enjoy x
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