About the bake
So easy to make, this carrot cake has a spiced nutty sponge topped with an orange cream cheese icing and is perfect for a coffee morning with friends or a spring time treat. Try making this Carrot Cake with nuts as an alternative to your normal Carrot Cake bake. If you're looking for a unique way to decorate your Carrot Cake then you can watch our video above from Juliet Sear.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas mark 2) Lightly grease and line a 13x23cm loaf tin with baking paper.
Step 2:
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the oil, sugar, grated carrot, chopped nuts and orange zest.
Step 3:
Sift in the dry ingredients and beat the mixture together until well mixed.
Step 4:
Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for 1-1 1/4 hours or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Step 5:
Allow to cool in the tin and when cool enough to handle remove from the tin. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Step 6:
For the icing, beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar and most of the finely grated orange zest and mix to combine. The icing should be smooth and quite thick.
Step 7:
Spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the remaining orange zest. Leave to set slightly and then cut into slices to serve.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 Egg(s) (free range) (medium)
- 140ml Vegetable oil
- 200g Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 300g Carrot(s) (grated)
- 75g Hazelnuts (chopped)
- 1 Orange (zest of)
- 180g Allinson's Self Raising Flour
- 1pinch Salt
- 0.5 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Cinnamon (ground)
- 0.5 tsp Nutmeg (ground)
- 2 tsp Mixed spice
For the orange cream cheese icing
- 250g Cream cheese
- 275g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 1 Orange zest (finely grated)
Utensils
- Loaf tin
- Baking paper
- Large mixing bowl
- Sieve
- Cooling rack
Recipe Reviews
Tastes nice but found the cake a little bit on the soggy side even after 1.5 hours in the oven. Also the cream cheese icing was quite runny and far too much. Will adapt when I make it again.
Superb texture and flavour with added crunch of the nuts. I used an ordinary icing with added orange zest drizzled over the top which kept it from getting too sweet.
Highly recommended.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 Egg(s) (free range) (medium)
- 140ml Vegetable oil
- 200g Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
- 300g Carrot(s) (grated)
- 75g Hazelnuts (chopped)
- 1 Orange (zest of)
- 180g Allinson's Self Raising Flour
- 1pinch Salt
- 0.5 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp Cinnamon (ground)
- 0.5 tsp Nutmeg (ground)
- 2 tsp Mixed spice
For the orange cream cheese icing
- 250g Cream cheese
- 275g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 1 Orange zest (finely grated)
Utensils
- Loaf tin
- Baking paper
- Large mixing bowl
- Sieve
- Cooling rack