Simnel-spiced carrot cake
by
Kate Doran's glorious carrot cake recipe is laced with flavours of the traditional Simnel cake, offering a great alternative Easter cake idea. The cake is smothered in a luxurious almond cream cheese frosting for a wonderfully decadent finish.
Ingredients
Simnel-spiced carrot cake
- 50g of sultanas
- 1/2 orange , zested and juiced
- 150g of self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 pinch of ground cloves
- 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
- 50g of ground almonds
- 50g of walnut halves , roughly chopped
- 120ml of sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
- 135g of soft brown sugar, light
- 2 large eggs
- 225g of carrots , peeled and coarsely grated
Almond cream cheese frosting
- 200g of mascarpone
- 2 tbsp of icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 orange , zested
- almond extract , a few drops
- 2 tbsp of flaked almonds , toasted
Method
1
In a small bowl, combine the sultanas, orange juice and zest and leave to steep for 1 hour
2
Preheat the oven 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease a 1kg loaf tin with sunflower oil and line the base and sides with baking parchment
3
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices into a medium bowl. Stir in the ground almonds and walnuts
4
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar and eggs until pale and thick
5
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, followed by carrots and soaked sultanas
6
Scrape the mixture into your prepared loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
7
Remove from the oven, run a knife round the edge of the cake then leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
8
To make the icing, beat together the mascarpone, icing sugar and orange zest. Spread over the top of your cooled cake then sprinkle over the flaked almonds
9
Un-iced, the cake will keep in an airtight container for 4–5 days. Once iced, store at room temperature for 24 hours or transfer to an airtight container in the fridge
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Simnel-spiced carrot cake
