Carrot & Orange Cake
This delightful carrot cake is a harmonious blend of sweet, moist carrot crumb, vibrant orange zest, and crunchy walnuts, all enriched with a touch of cinnamon. Top it off with a luscious cream cheese frosting delicately scented with orange blossom essence, and a drizzle of zesty orange glaze for a wonderfully balanced treat that is sure to please any crowd.
— Constant Cookbook
Ingredients
- 175 g light muscovado sugar
- 150 ml sunflower oil
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 160 g (fine to medium) grated carrot
- Grated zest of 1 large orange
- 100 g wholemeal self-raising flour
- 75 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (freshly ground cinnamon is best)
- 40 g chopped walnuts
- For the Orange Glaze:
- Juice of 1 large orange
- 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
- For the Frosting:
- 200 g cream cheese (low fat is better)
- Icing sugar to taste (I have left the quantity for you to decide, some like it sweet, some prefer, like me, not so sweet)
- 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom essence
- chopped walnuts to sprinkle over the top
Instructions
- Heat oven to 160 C (Fan). Put sugar, oil and beaten eggs into a large bowl, and thoroughly combine with a spoon, beating lightly
- Stir in carrots, orange zest, and nuts
- Mix flours, bicarbonate of soda, and cinnamon together, then sift into bowl and lightly mix.
- Pour mixture into prepared tin (18 cm square loose bottomed, greased and lined with baking parchment)
- Bake for 45 mins, and a wooden skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in tin, but remove before decorating.
- Squeeze the juice of the orange into a pan (sieve to remove all that isn't juice), and add sugar, and heat slowly until sugar has dissolved. As soon as cake is out of oven, brush the glaze all over the top of the cake and allow to soak in. Leave cake to cool completely, then remove from tin.
- Mix together the cream cheese, icing sugar, and orange blossom essence. Add more icing sugar if you prefer it sweeter.
- Spread the frosting all over the top of the cake, and swirl it a knife. Add chopped walnuts to decorate.
Yield
Serves 12
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