Carrot cake loaf

by Rachel Allen
Carrot cake loaf

Ingredients

140ml/4¾fl oz vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
2 free-range eggs
200g/7oz light brown sugar
300g/10½oz grated carrot (grated weight)
100g/3½oz raisins
75g/2½oz pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
180g/6oz self-raising flour
1 pinch salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp mixed spice
For the orange cream cheese icing
200g/7oz full-fat cream cheese, chilled
50g/1¾oz butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g/1¾oz icing sugar, sifted
1 orange, zest only

Directions

Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2. Oil and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin (approximately 13x23cm/5x9in) with baking paper.

For the carrot cake, beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts.

Sift in the remaining cake ingredients and mix using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and orange zest and mix until the icing is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.

I feel so grateful to have Shillingford Organics deliveries available to us. We get vegetables, salad. fruit and eggs from them. The quality is superb and the website easy to use. Lucky us!

— Mary

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