Light and fluffy carrot cake

Light and fluffy carrot cake

Traditionally carrot cakes are made with walnuts. This recipe uses finely ground macadamia nuts, I find macadamia nuts have a sweeter more delicate texture than walnuts do. The delicious sweet and nutty smell of this cake will waft through your kitchen, you may even find yourself staring at your oven door in anticipation of the cake being ready.

A trick I have learnt is to soak a thick tea towel in water and to tie it around the cake tin, be sure to make sure the end tuck in so no small pieces are sticking out. Why would I do that? I do that because it allows for an even penetration of heat, stopping the dreaded dome. I will try to photograph how it looks through the oven door during my next cake bake.

Ingredients

200grams butter

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/3 cup plain flour

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate soda

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups grated carrot

½ cup sultanas or currants (which ever you prefer)

1 cup whole macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Frosting

1 quantity of buttercream

Plus

½ lemon zested

2 TB cream cheese, at room temperature

½ cup whole macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Serves 10

1. Pre heat oven to 180c. Line a medium spring for tin with baking paper and spray with oil.
2. Separate eggs, place yolks aside in a small cup. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
3. In a separate bowl cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, add egg yolks lightly beat until combined. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, carrot, currants and macadamia nuts, mix until well combined.
4. Gently fold eggwhites into the cake mixture, do not over mix or the air you worked hard to incorporate will deflate.
5. Pour mixture into cake tin. Bake for 35-40min or until skewer comes out clean.
6. Prepare the frosting mixture whilst the cake is baking, to make the carrot cake variation, after step 1, add the cream cheese and lemon zest, beat until combined then add remaining ingredients. Set frosting aside until required. I find frosting easier to work with at room temperature.
7. Allow cake to cool.
8. Cover cake with a generous layer of icing. If need be one layer of icing can be placed onto the cake, then pop the cake into the fridge for 15minutes to harden the frosting and apply another layer. Using the back of a spoon, gently press coarsely chopped macadamias around the base of the cake and around the top edge of the cake, place remaining nuts into a peak in the middle.

 

 Serve and enjoy