Makes 16 Squares Prep 20 minutes Cook 30 minutes
Carrots make a wonderfully moist cake. These little treats are especially
good because the decorations are made from real carrot shavings.
What you need
200 g/7 oz carrots
175 g/6 oz soft brown sugar
200 g/7 oz self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
2 eggs, beaten
150 ml/¼ pint sunflower oil
For the topping
50 g/1¾ oz unsalted butter,
softened
75 g/2½ oz icing sugar
120 g/4¼ oz cream cheese
Carrot shavings, to decorate
(optional)
What to do
1 Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
Grease an 18 cm/7 inch square cake tin.
2 Grate the carrots finely into a large mixing
bowl. Sift the sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda
and cinnamon on top of the carrot, then add
the orange rind and mix everything together.
Add the eggs and the oil to the mixture.
Mix everything together well.
3 Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and level
the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake
is cooked through – test it by piercing it with
a metal skewer. It should come out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave
it to cool in the tin placed on a wire rack.
4 Meanwhile, make the topping. Mix the butter
and icing sugar together, then stir in the
cream cheese until smooth.
5 When the cake is cool, carefully turn it out
onto a board. Spread the topping evenly
over the cake and cut the cake into
16 squares. Decorate each square with
a shaving of fresh carrot, if you wish.