Carrot Cake ... Scrummy & Yummy

Cakes & Bakes are for sharing, although I am sure that there are plenty of us who wouldn't mind gobbling a whole loaf on their own given the choice. Home baked goodies make perfect gifts, wrap it up beautifully & wait for the smiles! They are also good surprise material, so just wait and bask in all the happiness it creates.
I am not a big fan of carrot cake but here almost everyone loves lemon drizzle or carrot cake. So that is the main reason I gave it a try. Nikhil loved it too. So get ready with your bunny hats to get your load of fresh carotene!

Carrot Cake
Recipe fully adapted from BBC Good Food (Mary Cadogan)

Ingredients:
175 g light muscovado sugar
175 ml sunflower oil
3 large eggs , lightly beaten
140 g grated carrots (about 3 medium)
100 g raisins
grated zest of 1 large orange
175 g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavor)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 C/160 C fan/ Gas 4. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18 cm square cake tin with baking parchment. The easiest way to do this is to cut two long strips the width of the tin and put each strip cross-ways  covering the base and sides of the tin, with a double layer in the base. (yes, it is the easiest way :) )
• Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the lightly beaten eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.
• Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients - when everything is evenly combined stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. (You can freeze the cake at this point.)

Notes: I used light brown sugar instead of muscovado sugar and it still came out well. I had skipped the frosting as we planned to have this with custard or a dollop of whipped cream.

For frosting, as per original recipe: 175 g icing sugar, 1&½-2 Tbsp orange juice. Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth - you want the icing about as runny as single cream. Set the cake on a serving plate and boldly drizzle the icing back and forth in diagonal lines over the top, letting it drip down the sides.
                                        ♥ Thank you ♥