If you're looking for a cake to bake and fancy a change from a classic Victoria sponge, what about giving this carrot cake recipe a go? Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood's carrot cake recipe includes pecan nuts for a delicious crunch along with cinnamon and ginger spices for warmth and is finished with cream cheese frosting.
Paul Hollywood's carrot cake recipe
Serves 8 | Cooking time 1 hour plus cooling | Calories 688 per serving
Ingredients
155ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
230g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground ginger
230g light brown muscovado sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 satsuma or mandarin, plus strips to decorate
100g pecans, halved
260g carrots, coarsely grated
3 medium free-range eggs, beaten
For the Icing
50g butter, softened
200g full-fat cream cheese, we recommend Philadelphia
100g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
For the orange peel
50g butter, softened
200g full-fat cream cheese, we recommend Philadelphia
100g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Method
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Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease an 18cm loose-bottomed round cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large bowl. Add the sugar, zest, pecans and grated carrots, then stir until well combined. Stir in the beaten eggs and oil, then mix well.
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Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack, leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out and leave to cool completely before icing.
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For the icing, beat the butter in a large bowl with a hand mixer until really soft. Add the cream cheese and beat again until well mixed. Sift over the icing sugar, add the orange zest, then beat until smooth. Store, covered, in the fridge until needed.
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For the orange peel, carefully pare the zest from the orange. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the orange zest and remove from the heat. Let the zest sit in the sugar syrup until it has completely cooled.
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Carefully cut the cake in half then spread half the icing between the cake layers and the other half on top. Decorate with the orange zest strips.
Features & Reviews Editor Emily Gilbert has been a journalist since 2016 and has worked across a variety of specialist and lifestyle brands both in print and online. Specialising in travel content and product reviews, Emily is the first to know about all the exciting new releases, her favourite being gadgets for the home.
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