You would be forgiven for thinking that a slice of Carrot Cake was doing you any good. In fact I have sometimes been under the false premise that this cake must include a whole range of beneficial nutritional ingredients…but then my friend Gabby gave me her tried and tested recipe for this much more sinister afternoon treat.

That’s right, carrot cake isn’t all that its name suggests. Yes there’s carrots, but there is also its sinister sidekicks; oil, butter and sugar. Who are you fooling, this cake has been masquerading under its vegetable associated healthy name for too long! It’s time to reveal the secrets of this deliciously unhealthy cake. Or perhaps it’s just me that has been blissfully ignorant to the thigh enlarging terrors within?

But in all its efforts to appear the ‘healthier’ choice, Carrot Cake is still as undoubtedly moist, delicious and as naughty as any other cake I have ever baked. Having said this, I would never turn down a good slice of cake (even after knowing what’s gone into it)!

The final (unhealthy) cake

The List:

300g brown sugar

300ml vegetable oil

3 eggs

1/2 tsp bi-carb

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

300g plain flour

300g carrots, grated

100g walnuts, chopped

dash of vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Cream Cheese Icing:

90g cream cheese

50g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup icing sugar

The Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C
2. Line the bottom of a 20 – 22cm baking tin with baking paper, buttering the sides lightly
3. Mix together brown sugar, olive oil and eggs
4. Sieve and then mix together bi-carb, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and flour. Once combined, add to the wet ingredients and mix
5. Add carrots, walnuts and vanilla to the mixture and combine
6. Pour mixture into cake tin and then bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour (time may vary due to size of cake tin and oven)
7. One cooked, remove from tin and leave to cool on a wire rack
8. Combine all icing ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spread evenly across the cake once cooled and decorate with chopped walnuts

Enjoy!

*Tip: this cake recipe is also great baked in a muffin tin to serve as individual portions

Just a slice will do

Perfect for afternoon tea