The 4th of April is International Carrot Day, many of us didn’t even know this existed, well it does, and it is today so I thought it only fitting to make a Carrot and Walnut cake to celebrate these versatile little vegetables.

It is super moist especially if you store it for a couple of days after baking as it attracts moisture and just gets better, once you have decorated it with the icing, which has cream cheese in it, you need to eat it in 2 or 3 days and store it in the fridge but pull it out a couple of hours before eating as it extra special if you eat it at room temperature.

Really Easy Carrot and Walnut Cake Recipe

Auds tip: This is a nice moist cake and keeps well too and it freezes well (undecorated is best for freezing), but once you have decorated it with the icing it is best eaten within a few days.

If you don’t fancy the cream cheese icing you can decorate with plain buttercream instead.

AT A GLANCE:

• Perfect for Beginners
• Preparation: 20 minutes if you have a food processor, 30 minutes if not
• Baking/cooking time: 1 hour
• Suitable for Vegetarians
• Serves: 8

YOU’LL NEED:

• A food processor makes it quicker and easier but you can grate the carrots by hand.
• 1x deep-sided 8” (20cm) tin or 2x shallow 8” tins (baking time will be reduced if you bake in two tins)

INGREDIENTS:

(tsp = level teaspoon, floz = fluid ounces)

170g Plain Flour

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 tsp Salt

280g Carrot (peeled and ends removed)

6 floz Vegetable or Corn Oil

3 Eggs

170g Castor Sugar

100g Walnut Pieces + extra for decoration

ICING:

170g Cream cheese

100g Icing sugar (sieved)

50g Margarine or butter

METHOD:

1. Line the tin with greaseproof paper (avoid any gaps as the mixture is runny!) and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F, gas mark 4.
2. Place the Flour, Cinnamon, Baking Powder, Bicarb and salt into a bowl and put to one side.
3. Place the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until combined and the carrots are blended into small pieces. If you don’t have a food processor grate the carrots by hand and chop the walnuts into very small pieces and then add the oil, eggs and sugar and mix well.
4. Now combine all the ingredients together and mix well. The mixture will appear sloppy but this is correct, do make sure you have lined your tin well and the mixture can’t leak out!
5. Bake for 50 minutes and check with a skewer which should come out clean, the cake may need an hour, all ovens vary!
6. Meanwhile, make the icing by creaming together the cream cheese and butter and beating in the icing sugar to a smooth paste (be careful not to overbeat the icing)
7. Once the cake is completely cooled you can either freeze it or store it for a few days in a plastic bag.
8. To decorate, use the icing through the centre of the cake and on top and finish with the reserved walnuts.

Enjoy. Perfect with a cup of tea 🙂