American carrot and orange cake

A deliciously moist cake that is super easy to prepare and perfect for enjoying with a cup of tea in the late afternoon. The cake also freezes really well, with or without the icing, which makes it ideal for preparing ahead of time if needs be.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 100g of soft brown sugar
• 100g of caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 120ml orange juice
• 120g of plain flour
• 120g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 medium carrots, grated
• chopped pecans to decorate

For the Icing

• 150g cream cheese
• 300g icing sugar
• 1 tsp orange zest

Method

1. To begin, preheat your oven to 180 °C.
2. In a stand mixer or bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Next, add the eggs and orange juice gradually.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Then add this gradually to the egg mixture.
5. Now add the grated carrots to the mix and stir to combine.
6. Divide this mix between two 8-inch, lined sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes or until risen and golden brown.
7. To prepare the icing, whip the cream cheese until soft and creamy, gradually add in the icing sugar and orange zest and mix until combined. Place this back in the fridge to cool until the cakes are also completely cooled.
8. To ice the cake, use half the icing to sandwich the cakes together and the other half on top. Sprinkle with walnuts and a little extra zest and enjoy.

Images by HM

Crockery – Burleigh

Linens – Gayle Warwick

Serving Board – Humphrey Munson