Carrot Cake

I asked my Mum if she would make Simon a carrot cake for his birthday and he ended up with a big square carrot cake that he (mainly he) and our flat mates wolfed down in no time.  I asked mum to make one as I remember her baking the most beautiful carrot cakes when I was a kid, but I stopped eating them and have never made one.  Why?  Haha, well… I don’t really like carrots and as I got older I stopped eating carrot cake because I knew it was chocka full of carrots and I now can’t bring myself to eat it, even though I remember it being delicious.  I just scoop off and eat the cream cheese icing when Simon orders a piece when we go out for hot chocolate!

1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups raw sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup cooking oil
3 eggs, beaten

Icing:
25g butter
50g cream cheese
1 cup sifted icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped nuts

Sift and mix the dry ingredients.  Add oil and stir well.
Stir in the beaten eggs, then add the carrots.  Mix thoroughly.
Grease the sides of a 10 inch square cake tin and line the bottom with greased paper.
Bake at 180°C for 1 hour.
For the icing, beat together all of the ingredients, spread of over the cake once it has cooled.  Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top.

This recipe comes from my Mum’s well-used handwritten cookbook.