Carrot Cake with Orange Icing

I feel like it's been a while since I last baked, when really it was only last weekend! I apologise for being a bit MIA in terms of baking this holiday; I didn't expect to be so busy and admit my baking equipment is starting to feel a little bit under-appreciated. I still have a lot on for the next couple of weeks but in the meantime I'll leave you with this lovely carrot cake and promise to try and keep up with my baking attempts!

This is one of my favourite ever cakes and this particular recipe is the best one I've found. I tend to give this cake away as a gift and so far, everyone appears to have loved it so fingers crossed it keeps performing! The addition of the orange icing on top gives the cake a bit of extra oomph but it's still delicious without.

Ingredients

Cake:-

175g light muscovado sugar

175ml sunflower oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

140g grated carrots

100g raisins

Grated zest of 1 large orange

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

Icing:-

50g icing sugar

2-3 tablespoons of orange juice

Recipe

Cake:-

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4 and line an 18cm round cake tin.

2) Place the sugar, oil and eggs into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.

3) Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.

4) Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices and lightly mix. 

5) Pour into the cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes. To make sure it’s done insert a skewer into the cake and if it comes out clean it’s ready. If not, place it back into the oven for another few minutes and keep checking.

6) Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully before decorating.

Icing:-

1) Place the icing sugar in a bowl then gradually add the orange juice until the icing becomes slightly runny but still quite thick.

2) Drizzle over the cake.