British recipes: Simple Carrot cake

Simple Carrot cake

Carrot cake is a cake which contains carrots mixed into the batter. The carrot softens while it cooks, and the cake usually has a soft, dense texture. The carrots themselves enhance the flavor, texture, and look of the cake.

Carrots have been used in sweet cakes since the medieval times, during which sweeteners were hard to find and expensive, while carrots, which contain more sugar than any other vegetable besides sugar beet, were much easier to come by and were used to make sweet desserts. Carrot cake really became populair again in Britain because of rationing during the Second World War.
Now carrot cake has taken on all forms and shapes and decorated with icing, icing figures or nuts.

Serves : Around 14 slices

Time: 35- 40 minutes

Ingredients :
- 150g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 125 grams of butter
- 125 grams of brown sugar
- 75 grams of grated carrot
- 2 eggs
- 100 grams of full fat cream cheese
- 2 tablspoons of icing sugar

Step 1:
Preheat your oven to 180C or gasmark 4.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl and add the butter, brown sugar carrot and the eggs. Beat together with a spoon until well mixed together dough.

Step 2:
Choose what baking tin you want to use are there are many diverent shapes you can give this cake, from a loaf shape to cupcakes or even round but more layers to your wonderful cake.
Grease your tin or line your cupcake tray with paper cupcake cases

Step 3:

Add your mixture to whatever bake tin you decide to use or devide between your cupcake trays.
Bake for 20-25 mins until they spring back when pressed.
transfer cake to a wire cooling rack leave until cold.

Step 4:
For the icing, mix the cream cheese with the icing sugar in a bowl then spread on the cake.
You could if you wish get some roll out icing and make carrots to decorate the cake or even add walnuts or other non salted cruched nuts.
Let your imagination run wild or just enjoy as a nice and simple loaf.