Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I always seem to have a lot of carrots to use up at this time of year and that is no bad thing because it means I can make carrot cake - one of my all-time favourite sweet treats!

I'm actually allergic to cinnamon and nutmeg so a lot of the time I can't have carrot cake but when I make my own I use dried ginger for the spicy kick which works a treat. This particular recipe uses orange zest for extra flavour as well as vanilla in the frosting. I also used sultanas and pecans but you can use whatever dried fruits and nuts your fancy!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 16 

For the cake:

200g self-raising flour 
75g sultanas 

75g pecans, broken into rough pieces 

½ large orange, zest only

2 tsp dried ginger

1 tsp baking powder 

pinch fine sea salt 

3 free-range eggs 

175ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing 

175g soft light brown sugar 

200g carrots, grated

For the cream cheese frosting:

100g icing sugar 

100g unsalted butter, softened 

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g full-fat cream cheese 

½ large orange, zest only 

25g pecan nuts, roughly broken

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (fan)/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square loose-bottomed cake tin. 

Place the flour, sultanas, pecans, orange zest, ginger, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Add the sunflower oil and sugar and whisk until well combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and beat in the egg mixture until smooth. 

Stir in the carrots. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and smooth the surface. Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is well risen and feels springy to the touch. (Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is done.) Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for five minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and set aside to cool on a wire rack. 

Whilst the cake is baking, make the frosting: sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and add the butter and vanilla extract. Beat together with a large wooden spoon until light and creamy. Add the cream cheese and orange zest and beat until smooth. Cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm enough to spread. 

When the cake is cool, spread the icing over the top and sprinkle with the pecans then cut into squares and serve.