Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 10
Ingredients
- 300g self-raising flour
- 200g light muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 150g sultanas
- 75g shelled walnuts
- 75g pecans, halved
- 325 ml rapeseed oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 orange, grated for zest
- 250g carrots, coarsely grated
- 200g cream cheese
- 100g butter, softened
- 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
- 2tbsp golden syrup
- 75g walnuts
Method
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease a 22cm deep loose-base round cake tin with a small amount of unsalted butter or extra virgin olive oil.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, spices, baking powder and sugar and mix well. Then stir in the sultanas and nuts.
- In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, carrots and zest. Add this to the flour mixture a little at a time.
- When the cake mixture is runny (but not too runny, add more flour if needed), spoon it into the cake tin. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
- When you’re sure the cake is fully baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool down for at least 30 minutes before trying to remove it from the tin.
For the topping
- To make the frosting, mix together the cream cheese, butter, sugar and golden syrup until the mixture is smooth and creamy, and then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or until it’s thickened up.
- When the cake is completely cool, spread a thick layer on top and sprinkle the border with walnuts.
