Carrot cake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup self-raising flour

1 t mixed spice

1 t ground cinnamon

½ t ground ginger

1 t baking soda

1 cup brown sugar 

3 large eggs

1 cup sunflower or canola oil

1 t vanilla essence

¾ cup chopped walnuts 

2 cups grated carrot

½ cup sultanas or raisins

2 T desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Icing

125g cream cheese, softened

50g butter, softened

2½ cups Icing Sugar 

2T hot water 

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C 

conventional or 160ºC fan bake.

Sift flours, spices and soda 

into a large mixing bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until just combined, don’t beat. 

Grease and line with baking paper a medium sized springform cake tin. 

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. 

(jiggling it back and forth evens it out)

Bake for 1 hour or until cooked (when a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean). Remove from oven, cool, then remove from the cake tin and peel away the paper. Swirl icing over the cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

Mix the icing sugar and hot water together, 

add remaining ingredients then beat until a smooth consistency.

Note: We sprinkled the icing with desiccated apricots (blitzed in the blender) 

and shaved almonds.