Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake

In the Netherlands there is a joke about carrotcake. Maybe this joke contributes to the fact that noone really knows carrotcake, and when seeing the cake people wont try it.

Once upton a time there was a rabbit and he went to the baker. He asked: "Baker do you sell carrotcake???" "No" the baker said and a little bit sad the rabbit went home. The following day the rabbit went back to the baker and asked: "Do you have carrotcake???". "No" the baker said and again a bit sad the rabbit went home. Then the baker thought "I will go and bake a carrotcake." And for the next few hours the baker was busy baking a carrotcake. The next day the rabbit came to the baker and asked: "Baker, do you have carrotcake?". "Yes" the baker said "I have carrotcake." The rabbit looked at the baker and says "discusting eh!"

When the parents of my boyfriend were over for a long weekend, his mum brought over 2 small cookingbooks. On the last day of their visit the boyfriend and his dad went birdwatching and me and his mum went baking. One of the cakes his mum said was delicious was the carrot cake. I was a little bit sceptical but we tried it anyway. And she was right, it was delicious!

Allthough the chocolate cake was eaten first the carrotcake was liked by everyone. Before trying though most people asked if it didn't taste like carrots too much and if it was a sweet or savory cake.

This carrotcake is a sweet cake, it doesnt taste like carrots at all, I'm guessing the carrots give the cake an extra sweetness to it.

This recipe for carrotcake comes out of Good Food, 101 Cakes and Bakes and is altered a little bit by me. The recipe I used is below:

Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

175 gram light muscovado sugar

175 ml sunflower oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

140 gram grated carrots

100 gram raisins (optional)

grated zest of 1 large orange

175 gram self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavour)

For the frosting:

185 gram cream cheese

juice of halve an orange

icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. The easiest way to do this is to cut two long strips the width of the tin and put each strip crossways, covering the base and sides of the tin, with a double layer in the base.

2. Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon. Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.

3. Mix the flour, baking soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. (You can freeze the cake at this point.)

5. Beat together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Set the cake on a serving plate spread the creamcheese over the cake. Put the cake in the fridge to help set the creamcheese and enjoy!