Carrot Cake!

Here be the glorious carrot cake! It was yummy. The icing's quite runny so have to pile it on high, then you end up with a nice thick frosting too. This is a nice moist cake that's really tasty and a bit naughty. 8/10 methinks.



Recipe:

Ingredients
250g/9oz unsalted butter
375g/13oz caster sugar
rind of 2 oranges, grated
4 eggs
450g/1lb carrots, grated
150g/5oz almonds or pecans, chopped
1 tbsp vanilla essence
juice of 1 orange
250g/9oz plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp salt

For the icing:
225g/8oz full fat soft cheese, at room temperature
65g/2½oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g/14oz icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Grease a 23cm/9in spring-form cake tin.
3. Beat the butter, sugar and orange rind until they are light and fluffy.
4. Slowly add the eggs, beating well to incorporate each addition fully before adding more.
5. Fold in the grated carrot and chopped nuts.
6. Add the vanilla essence and orange juice.
7. Finally, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spice and salt together, then fold into the cake mixture.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared spring-form tin and bake in the preheated oven for about 45-60 minutes. The sides of the cake should be coming away from the sides of the cake tin and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
9. To make the icing, cream the cheese and the butter together until smooth.
10. Add the icing sugar and vanilla essence, and beat until smooth. This frosting is rich thick and delicious.
11. Spread the icing generously over the top of the cake.

I accidentally bought walnuts instead of almonds, but think they actually taste better!

Walnut and Coffee Cake!

I think it came out well. However my first batch of icing sugar curdled and had to go in the bin. I should have added the coffee mixture very very slowly to the icing! I also only sliced the cake into two layers instead of three!

Ingredients
125g butter , at room temperature
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 heaped tbsp coffee , dissolved in 100ml water
100g walnut halves
ICING
200g butter
2-300g icing sugar

Heat the oven to 170C/fan 150C/fan 3. Line a deep 18cm loose-based or springform cake tin. Beat the butter and sugar together with electric beaters and then beat in the eggs, flour and baking powder.

Beat in 1 tbsp of the coffee mixture and then add up to another tbsp little by little until the mixture drops easily off the spoon. Keep the rest of the coffee mixture for the icing.
Stir in half the walnuts, snapping them in half as you drop them into the bowl. Spoon into the tin, level the top and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly. Cool.

To make the icing, beat the butter until soft and then beat in 200g icing sugar followed by the remaining coffee mixture, little by little. Stop when you have a depth of colour and flavour that you like. If the icing looks a little soft, beat in extra icing sugar.

Cut the cake into 3 slices horizontally and then sandwich the layers together with some of the icing, you need a reasonably thick layer. Ice the top of the cake with the rest of the icing and decorate with the rest of the walnuts.