I’m finding the common carrot especially delicious at the moment, in both its cooked and raw forms. The vibrant, warm orange hue of this humble veg is appealing to the eye and the sweet juicy flavour and satisfying crunch has everyone in my family asking for more. 

I’ve been setting out bowls of carrot sticks for the kids to munch on after school and also bundling them into their school lunches. It’s an effective way of boosting their intake of beta carotene which is converted to Vitamin A, essential for sharp vision. Carrots are also high in folate, essential for pregnant women – perhaps that explains my current high consumption of this versatile veg. 

So with several kilograms of carrots in the fridge, I found myself flicking through cookbooks in search of the ideal, super moist carrot cake recipe. I found it in Merle’s Kitchen, by Merle Parrish a reliable and easy to follow cookbook that I am rapidly making my way through. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys baking, as well as the beginner cook. What impresses me about the recipes in this cookbook, is that the ingredients listed are readily available and are what I consider to be, pantry baking essentials. Plus, the finished cake, slice or biscuits that I pull out of the oven actually resemble the tasty treats pictured on the pages of Merle’s book.

I made one change to this recipe – I successfully substituted shredded coconut for the walnuts, because unfortunately I am not able to eat the latter. 

Carrot Cake

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
pinch of salt
1.5 cups finely grated carrot – I used my Magimix food processor to do this this
1/2 cup shredded coconut (Merle uses the same quantity of chopped walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees on a conventional setting. Grease and line a 20 cm cake tin with baking paper. 

Using an electric beater (I used my KitchenAid mixer), beat together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until combined. 

Add the dry ingredients which have been sifted and beat together on a low speed until smooth. Stir in the carrots and walnuts (I used coconut instead).

Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the tin, place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when you touch it gently. 

Remove from the oven and leave it in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn the carrot cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing it with the cream cheese icing recipe listed below. 

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients
60g cream cheese and 30g unsalted butter – both chopped and at room temperature
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1.5 cups sifted icing sugar

Beat all the ingredients together until smooth, pale and creamy. This is where the KitchenAid  impresses time and time again because it is just so fast!

Spread the icing over the cooled cake. There is enough here to give you a decadently thick layer. I also sprinkled some shredded coconut on top of the icing for added texture and appeal.