All times of the year are best for cooking your best ever carrot cake recipe! Serve with your finest espresso coffee for a perfect morning tea or lazy afternoon break.
Origins of My Best Ever Carrot Cake Recipe
In the late 1970’s I had a dear colleague and friend whose parents were from the USA. My friend travelled to the USA to holiday with relatives. Knowing that I liked cooking he brought me back a delightful souvenier: the Colorado Cache Cookbook. Although the USA-style recipes include many processed frozen, tinned and packet-mixes foreign to Australia, I have successfully adapted many of the recipes. This carrot cake recipe is really the best ever, and has become one of our family favourites.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1.5 Cups olive oil
- 1.5 Cups dark-brown sugar
- 2 Cups SR flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 Cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup chopped raisins
- 3 Cups grated carrot
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 4 large eggs.
Frosting
- 250g cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup soft icing sugar
Method
First up you should prepare two 15cm square cake tins by lining them with baking paper. Meanwhile turn the oven up to ~170 deg C. Then you can chop the raisins and walnuts and sift the spices into the flour.
Using a beater, you can cream the oil and sugar with the vanilla essence. After adding the grated carrot, gradually add in the well-beaten eggs alternately with the flour mixture. Finally fold in the walnuts and raisins.
Divide the batter between two lined cake tins. Although you may prefer to use one larger tin. I prefer the smaller size because it suits our small family. But whatever tin you prefer, you should make sure it is lined with baking paper. Bake the cake in a moderate to slow oven for up to one hour (large tin) or ~40 minutes for the smaller tins.
While the cake is cooking you can prepare the frosting. You simply whip the cream cheese with the vanilla essence while adding icing sugar to your preferred taste. Then when the baked cake has cooled, you can spread the frosting over the top.
HINT: This cake will store well frozen for several months. Also as an extra indulgence you might like to serve your carrot cake with a generous dollop of creme fraiche or whipped cream.
Learn More about Tin Dragon Cottages
If you wish to learn more about our tourist accommodation in North East Tasmania, please explore our Tin Dragon Cottages web site. We look forward to hosting your next stay in Tasmania!
