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The Best Carrot Cake
This recipe is fantastic for using up cooked carrots and over ripe pineapple. The icing can also be made from cottage cheese if you have any remaining in the fridge.
Ingredients show imperial units
- 225g self raising flour
Flour
For pastry making or to thicken sauces, soups, stews and casseroles.
- Raising agents are added to plain flour to make self-raising flour, used to lighten and give an airy texture to cakes and sponges.
- Once opened reseal with quick clips or transfer to an airtight container or kilner jar. It will keep for up to 3-4 months
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Salt
Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.
Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon
Great in buns, cakes, and puddings.
- Add to baked apples or apple pies.
- Break the stick and add to poaching syrup for fruits like pears, plums or bananas or use to infuse wine or punch.
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 4 eggs
Eggs
Always have some on hand for quick scrambled egg.
- Keep eggs in the fridge in their box and never eat them after their best before date.
- The Health Protection Agency recommends buying Lion branded eggs, which come from vaccinated hens and are therefore less likely to contain salmonella
- 225g soft brown sugar
Sugar and Syrups
Try having in stock caster sugar, muscavado, honey and golden syrup
- Once opened ensure they are tightly resealed with quick clips or bag clips.
- If you have got rock-hard brown sugar, crystallised honey/syrup, place in a suitable non-metallic bowl and give a quick blast of about 30 seconds on high in the microwave to bring these back to their normal state.
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 100g cooked carrot, pureed or finely chopped
- 75g over-ripe pineapple, pureed
- 75g walnuts , roughly chopped
Nuts
Add crunch to your cooking!!!
- Almonds are used in Moroccan tagine dishes as well as in Indian cooking or for garnish for scented rice and curry dishes. They also work well with apples, apricots, lemon, orange, vanilla and chocolate. Ground almonds are great in biscuits and cakes.
- Walnuts – add crunch to salad and are good in stuffing’s. Have a bowl of walnuts at Christmas for people to enjoy with a glass of port
- 75g desiccated coconut
- 125ml sunflower oil
- 75g cream cheese or cottage cheese
Cheese
Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.
- Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
- Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 175g icing sugar
Sugar and Syrups
Try having in stock caster sugar, muscavado, honey and golden syrup
- Once opened ensure they are tightly resealed with quick clips or bag clips.
- If you have got rock-hard brown sugar, crystallised honey/syrup, place in a suitable non-metallic bowl and give a quick blast of about 30 seconds on high in the microwave to bring these back to their normal state.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) mark 4. Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin.
- Sieve the flour, salt, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs with the sugar, vanilla essence, pureed carrot, pineapple, walnuts, coconut and oil together. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour, mix well until evenly combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in the tin before turning out.
- For the topping; beat together the cream cheese or cottage cheese with the vanilla essence and icing sugar until smooth. Spoon the icing onto the top of the cake and spread with a pallet knife, leaving a rough effect.
