Simple Carrot Cake

Step 1
Preheat oven to 170°C fan-forced. Grease and line a square cake tin about 23x23cm. If you don’t have this size, choose a slightly smaller size over a larger size.

Step 2
Grate the carrots on the coarse side of a box grater. You’ll need about 4 cups of grated carrot in total. Zest and juice the orange, then roughly chop the walnuts into halves.

Step 3
In large bowl whisk the eggs, then add the orange juice, brown sugar and vegetable oil and whisk again.

Step 4
In a second large bowl, put the white sugar and salt, then sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, cinnamon and allspice and whisk to combine.

Step 5
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients then tip in the wet ingredients. Using a spatula gently fold the ingredients together until just combined. Add the grated carrot and walnuts and gently fold through. It will feel like you have too much carrot, but don’t panic, it’s the right amount! To make sure your cake is light and fluffy don’t over mix the batter.

Step 6
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and pulling away slightly from the edges. When you pierce the cake with a skewer or toothpick, it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. If you see wet batter, the cake needs more time in the oven. Once cooked, let the cake sit in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 7
The cake needs to be COMPLETELY cool before icing it, don’t rush this step.

Step 8
While the cake is cooling prepare the frosting. In a large bowl add the cream cheese, the orange zest and sift the icing sugar in. Mix well to combine.

Step 9
Once the cake has cooled, spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake. You can fancy it up by sprinkling it with more orange zest and finely chopped walnuts, then slice into squares to serve.