{the best carrot & walnut cake in hermie}

Sometimes I feel like a nice piece of cake but it feels too naughty to have a sweet treat so often. Although this cake is still sweet, it does have half a kilogram of carrots. In my book, this is 'healthy'! It also happens to be the best carrot cake I have found and the original recipe is from Planet Cake. The recipe below is adjusted with slightly less oil and sugar. I have also added a quick cream cheese icing recipe to go on the top as it complements it perfectly (and it's the only icing that Mr S actually like as it's not too sweet). Taste tested by Miss I and myself and was so good, I've had 4 slices in my first sitting...

Carrot Cake:
500 grams carrots (about 5 carrots), peeled & chopped into 3cm lengths
170 grams self raising flour
170 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
180 grams vegetable oil
4 eggs
210 grams brown sugar
125 grams golden syrup
60 grams walnuts + extra for serving

Cream Cheese Icing:
250 grams cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 4cm cubes
juice of 1/2 lemon
100-110 grams icing sugar or raw sugar

1. Pre-heat oven 160C. Line a 20 cm square cake tin or 22 cm round cake tin with baking paper.
2. Place carrots in TM bowl. Chop 4secs/ speed 5. Set aside.
3. Add flours, spices and bicarbonate soda to TM bowl. Mix 3secs/ speed 3.
4. Add in oil, eggs, sugar & golden syrup and mix 6secs/ speed 6. Scrape down sides if required.
5. Add reserved carrots and stir through manually with spatula.
6. Add walnuts to TM bowl. Mix 5secs / speed 5/ reverse.
7. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 1hour 20 mins or until cooked and a skewer comes out clean.
8. Meanwhile, rinse out TM bowl and put all ingredients into TM bowl for icing. Mix 5secs/ speed5. Note, if using raw sugar, mill first 20secs/ speed 10 and then add in remaining ingredients.
9. When cake is cooked, cool in tin for 15mins, then turn out onto cooling rack. Ice with cream cheese icing when cool. Sprinkle extra crushed walnuts over the top.

Serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

Bon Appetit xx

Notes: This make quite a bit of cake and it is suitable to freeze for up to 2 months (without the icing). I personally pre-slice the cake and then wrap in cling wrap so it is easier to defrost in single slices.