Carrot Cake
Naked with Cream Cheese Icing & Hazelnuts
8-12 generous slices, approximately
SAVE this recipe & let me know when you bake it!
Ingredients
For the cake:
180ml oil
125ml buttermilk
4 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
325g cake flour
275g sugar (brown if you have brown; Demerara is best; use what you have even if its white sugar)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb
2 tsp flakey sea salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Whole nutmeg, grated
1/2 tsp ground all spice
140g chopped toasted hazelnuts (use any nuts that you have available)
100g sultanas, soaked in boiling water, drain excess water then chop (optional)
1 pineapple, peeled & grated (about 280g)
5 large carrots, peeled & grated (about 335g)
Cream Cheese Icing:
125g butter or margarine, softened
250g hard full fat cream cheese, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
500g icing sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180C
To prepare the cake, line 2 or 3 20cm round cake tin with butter and flour or spray and cook and baking paper on the base. Swipe to see the video if you don't know how to do this.
Combine the oil, buttermilk, eggs & vanilla in a large mixing bowl
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb, salt, ground cinnamon , ground ginger, nutmeg & all spice in a large mixing bowl.
Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a spatula. Then fold in the hazelnuts, sultanas, pineapple & carrots.
Weigh the cake batter on a scale, then equally divide the mixture into 2 or 3 portions depending on how many layers you would like. I baked three layers.
Bake each portion in the oven for about 30 minutes if you use 2 or 3 cake pans. The cake is cooked if you insert a skewer into the cake and when removed the skewer should be free of any crumbs. Remove the cakes from the oven, cool the cakes down on a wire rack.
For the icing, beat the softened butter & softened cream cheese until well combined, light and airy.
Add the icing sugar a little at a time and incorporate into the butter and cream cheese mixture then add the vanilla and salt.
Once the cake is cold, layer the cakes & icing. Serve on a plate or cake stand
Chefs tip:
Stick a few roses on top for a minimal yet beautiful celebration cake.
