07 Feb Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

It was my Mom’s birthday last week, so I gave her the choice of what cake she’d like for the occasion. She requested a Carrot Cake, which I was pleased about as it tied in beautifully with International Carrot Cake day on 3 February!

This cake has a delicious melt-in-the-mouth texture and is just spicy enough to enhance the sweet carroty goodness. I used “mixed spice” which is a blend of sweet spices available in South Africa (although originally from Britain where it is also known as pudding spice). The flavour of mixed spice is similar to “pumpkin pie spice” – use this instead or make your own mixed spice (*see recipe notes). I love to add either pecan nuts or walnuts for a bit of crunch, and if you are a fan of sultanas or raisins (I’m not!) then you can add some of them too.

In my opinion, there is no better companion for a classic carrot cake than a rich cream cheese icing. Keep the decorations simple with some chopped nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon if you wish!

*Recipe updated April 2022

Ingredients:

(Serves 10-12)

Carrot Cake:
400g soft brown sugar (2 cups)
4 large eggs
375ml sunflower oil (1½ cups)
5ml vanilla essence (1 tsp)
400g flour
7,5ml baking soda (1½ tsp)
7,5ml baking powder (1½ tsp)
2,5ml salt (½ tsp)
5ml ground cinnamon (1 tsp)
10ml mixed spice (2 tsp)
400g carrots, grated (3½ cups)
115g walnuts, roughly chopped (1 cup)

Cream Cheese Icing:
175g unsalted butter, softened (1½ sticks)
300g cream cheese, softened
750g icing sugar (6 cups)
10ml vanilla essence (2 tsp)
Fresh flowers or chopped walnuts, to decorate

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 170°C. Grease and line 3 x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
• Place sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla into a bowl and beat until well incorporated (it may look slightly split).
• Gradually add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Beat until well combined.
• Stir in the grated carrots and nuts..
• Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins. Smooth the top with a palette knife.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. I find if I bake all 3 cakes at once they need a bit longer – about 30 to 35 minutes.
• Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack and allowing to cool completely.
• To make the icing, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth.
• Sift in the icing sugar a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Lastly add in the vanilla extract.
• Once the cakes have cooled, ice one layer with a quarter of the icing. Place the second cake on top, use another quarter of the icing. Top with the last cake and use the remaining icing the cover the top and sides.
• Smooth neatly with a palette knife, then decorate the cake with the nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

*To make your own @Mixed Spice” combine 15ml ground cinnamon (1 tbsp), 5ml ground allspice (1 tsp), 5ml ground ginger (1 tsp), 5ml ground cloves (½ tsp), 2,5ml ground nutmeg (½ tsp), 2,5ml ground coriander seed (½ tsp).

* If you prefer a whiter icing, you can use clear vanilla essence available at baking stores.