Grandma Pat’s Carrot Cake
Grandma Pat, the woman who instilled a love for baking in me.
I was always a hater of carrot cake, solely eating the frosting, until I tried this one which converted me into a carrot cake lover!
This is hands down the most popular recipe I’ve shared and I hope your family and friends love this one as much as mine do.
Here’s what you’ll need…
For the cake:
250 g wholemeal flour
150 g dark muscovado sugar
150 g soft brown sugar
3 eggs
175 ml sunflower oil
75 ml sour cream
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp fine salt
300 g grated carrot
75 g desiccated coconut or ground almond
For the frosting:
100 g softened butter
400 g icing sugar
250 g full fat cream cheese
(optional) vanilla extract or juice of ½ lemon
(optional) edible flowers, chopped nuts, candied carrot peel to decorate
Preheat oven to 150℃ and line your cake tin/s with greaseproof paper (either 1 x 8 inch or 2 x 6 inch).
Place your wet ingredients (eggs, oil, vanilla and sour cream) in a mixing bowl with both sugars (make sure there are no lumps) and beat them all together.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Now fold the contents of this bowl into the bowl of wet ingredients, followed by the carrot and the desiccated coconut/ground almond. Ensure the cake batter is mixed well and then add to your cake tin.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 1.5 hours for an 8 inch cake or for 1 hour for 6 inch cakes. Ovens may vary so check to see when yours is done. Once baked, cool in the tin and then turn out onto on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting, beat the softened butter with the icing sugar. (Use an electric whisk or the paddle attachment on a stand mixer.) It is always best to add the icing sugar in parts on a slow speed initially if you want to avoid a blizzard in your kitchen. Turn up the speed on the mixer and beat until well incorporated and fluffy.
Meanwhile, take fridge-cold cream cheese and stir through with a spatula until smooth and creamy. When the butter sugar mix is ready, add the cream cheese and any optional flavourings (lemon juice or vanilla extract) and mix until thoroughly combined. Be careful not to overbeat as your frosting can easily go runny!
Add your frosting on top of your cooled carrot cake. Spread it thickly with a palette knife and add any additional decorations you desire.