Carrot and Ginger Cake

I initially decided that I didn’t need a carrot cake recipe on the website  but then I made this one by Nigella Lawson and had to share as its soooo good, The ginger creates a fantastic taste to the cake, I am not a walnut fan so left them out and added them as a praline on the top, I also added 1/4 tsp of mixed spice and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. You can also put 1/2 tsp go ground ginger into the icing mixture too. The one pictured was for my sister in law who turned 50 during the Covid -19 lock down and made a few more for staff at the retirement village I work for , I should rename it the Corona  Carrot cake !

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 175 gas soft brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200ml of vegetable oil
  • 200g grated carrots
  • 100 g walnut pieces  roughly chopped or crumbled
  • 75 crystallised ginger  finally chopped

Melanies additions

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 mixed spice

 

For the icing

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 100g full fat cream cheese
  • 1 x 15 ml tablespoon fresh ginger coarsely grated )

Melanies additions  1/2 tsp ground ginger

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line a springform cake tin 1 x 20 cm
  2. Put the flour and baking powder and bicarbonate of soda  into a bowl and fork well to mix
  3. Beat the eggs, and sugar and oil in another large bowl until they are completely mixed together
  4. Gradually add the flour mixture scrapping down the sides  of the bowl to rescue any flour clinging to the edges
  5. At this stage the mixture looks alarmingly stiff but don’t worry as the carrots loosen it all up
  6. Beat in the carrots and fold in 100g I cup of the prepared walnuts and 75g of the crystallised ginger unto everything is combined
  7. Using a spatula  scrape into the prepared tin . Don’t worry if it doesn’t look very much batter the cake will rise well when it bakes , Smooth the top for 45 to 55 minutes until the the top is golden brown and the cake starts to shrink away at the sides and a cake tester comes out clean
  8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool
  9. As soon as the cake is in the oven prepare the icing
  10. Beat the butter and  icing sugar together until  creamy beat in the cornflour, followed by the cream cheese once that has incorporated beat in the remaining half . Be careful not to over beat as it will split and go runny
  11. Grate the ginger into a paper handy towel and quickly bring the sides to gather and squeeze our the juice over a bowl then beat this into the icing
  12. Cover with cling film and refrigerate
  13. When the cake is completely cold take the icing out of the fridge  for about 20 mintues by which time it will have softened to a spreadable
  14. Beat the icing so its really smooth and spread over the cake ,
  15. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and crystallised ginger.

In the photograph I cut my cake in half and doubled the icing mixture  and spread a layer  of the icing on one side of the half then sprinkled some walnut praline and placed the other half of the cake on top and iced it Sprinkling the walnut Praline around the outside of the cake with finely chopped apricots and honeyed pumpkin and sunflower seeds and finished with a bit of bling being the toffee shards. these recipes can be found on my website under bits and pieces .

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