Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Topping
This is a wonderful, moist Carrot Cake recipe with a delicious Cream Cheese topping, and because we added in the sunflower oil, it will stay moist for several days in an airtight container. Carrot Cake is always a very popular cake, and one might say, alongside the brownie, it is the ultimate ‘tray-bake’. The cream cheese topping has orange flavours running throughout it which compliment the carrot in the cake so well.
Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Topping
We recommend choppping the pecan and sultanas up quite small for the cake.
Recipe Ingredients:
for the carrot cake
- 220g wholemeal flour
- 220g finely grated carrots
- 150ml sunflower oil
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- 75g golden syrup
- 1 tbsp fine cut orange marmalade
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 100g finely chopped sultanas
- 50g finely chopped pecan nuts
for the cream cheese topping
- 200g soft cream cheese (Mascarpone / Philadelphia)
- 70ml coconut cream
- 70ml double cream
- 50g icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 tbsp fine-cut orange marmalade
- 1/2 orange zest – 2 tbsp orange juice
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 50g pecan halves
Recipe Method:
Preheat oven to 160C – Grease and line an 18cm square baking tin – or a brownie tray.
In a large bowl whisk together the sunflower oil, soft brown sugar, beaten eggs and the golden syrup. Whisk until all the ingredients are totally combined. Chop up the sultanas and pecan nuts finely and mix in all the remaining cake ingredients. Once everything is evenly mixed and distributed spoon the cake batter into the prepared and lined baking tin – gently level off the cake batter.
Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, at 160C, until the carrot cake has nicely risen. To test insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean and hot the cake is ready. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. after 10 minutes turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cream cheese topping: In a mixing bowl the cream cheese and zest of half an orange. Warm the marmalade and fresh orange juice in a small saucepan until melted. Allow to cool slightly. Beat the warm marmalade into the cream cheese and then add the coconut cream, the double cream and icing sugar and mix thoroughly. Place the cream cheese mixture into the fridge to firm up. When chilled and firm spread the cream cheese thickly over the cooled cake with a spatula.
Lightly dust the cream cheese on top of the cake with some ground cinnamon and add the pecan halves on top to decorate. Cut and serve the Carrot Cake in squares, or keep the cake in an air-tight container for a few days.
