Carrot Cake - By Request

My nearest and dearest does not often make requests, he seems to happily munch his way through whatever food I cook. To my surprise he asked for a carrot cake, not for himself but for one of his golfing buddies who had said that carrot cake was his all time favourite cake. I must confess that it is possibly mine as well. The combination of caramelly sweet, moist cake studded with walnuts and a generous layer of frosting is irresistable.

I have played around with the recipe plenty of times, all brown sugar. a combination of oil and butter, replacing some of the flour with wholemeal and even using pureed apple and peaches instead of pineapple. I also like pecans instead of walnuts.  Be aware that it is a wet batter and you will need to pour it into the tin.

This cake is equally delicious without the frosting. Sometimes I trim away the edges before frosting and eat the trimmings lightly buttered much as you would a nut loaf.

Carrot Cake

Cake 1 ½ cups grated carrot ½ cup crushed pineapple, well drained 1 1/2 cups grape seed oil* 125 g butter, melted* 4 eggs 1 cup brown sugar* 1/2 cup caster sugar* 1 cup walnut pieces, roughly chopped or broken* 1 1/2 cups plain flour * 1/2 cup wholemeal flour* 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda 2 teaspoons mixed spice 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting 125 g cream cheese 90 g soft butter 2 cups icing sugar finely grated rind /zest of 1 lemon j 1 tablespoon lemon juice To Decorate ¼ cup walnuts, chopped finely

Notes

*1 Use 2 cups plain flour instead of wholemeal and plain flour

*2 Use 2 cups oil instead of oil and butter

*3 Use 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar instead of brown and caster sugar

*4 Use pecans, macadamias  instead of walnuts

Method

Grease and line the sides and bottom of  an 8 inch square, 9 inch round or rectangular baking tin.

Place oil, melted butter eggs, sugar, carrots, pineapple and walnuts in a large bowl and mix to combine.  I use an electric hand beater on low to mix them.

Add flour(s), bicarbonate of soda and spices and mix into the oil. Make sure that it is well mixed, use hand beater on low or med setting.

Pour into the greased and lined tin. Bake 150 Deg C until a skewer tests  just clean, approx an hour and a half.

When cooked remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for at least half an hour.

Once completely cold, spread with cream cheese frosting and decorate with finely chopped walnuts.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. This cake last well for a few days.

To Make Frosting

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy.