Carrot cake is a staple recipe and it's so, so good. The cake itself is moist and absolutely delicious, with the slight crunch of walnuts throughout, and topped off with classic cream cheese icing. I find that carrot cake is a universally liked dessert so it's great to have in your baking repertoire!
Ingredients - one layer 23 cm (9 inch) square cake or two layer 20 cm (8 inch) round cake
250g brown sugar
3 eggs
250mL vegetable oil
230g flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
Pinch of cinnamon
250g carrot (2-3 carrots)
Walnuts to taste (I usually use about a cup - this step is optional!)
Ingredients - cream cheese icing
60g butter (room temperature butter works best!)
350g cream cheese
350g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Optional - walnuts for garnishing
Method - cake
1. Preheat your oven to 180C (356F). Grate your carrot. If you're using walnuts, chop them up roughly.
2. Beat the sugar and eggs, then mix the oil in.
3. Fold the flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and cinnamon into the mixture.
4. Finally, fold the grated carrot and chopped walnuts into the batter.
5. Line a baking tin (23cm square tin) with baking paper and pour the mixture in. Bake the cake for 1 hour, an inserted toothpick should come out clean.
6. Let your cake cool for a bit in the tin, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Get started on the cream cheese icing!
Method - icing
1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until combined.
2. Add the icing sugar and beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Finally, add the vanilla and beat until combined.
4. Once your cake is completely cool, ice it to your preference. It looks great decorated with walnuts.
The great thing about carrot cake is that you can make it look as 'rustic' and 'homey' as you want it to. If you're doing it in layers, you can just ice between the layers and on top and leave the sides icing-free; you can put walnuts anywhere you like; and you can make the icing smooth or messy-looking. There's lots of room for experimentation!
I like to ice the whole cake (because more icing is better!), chop walnuts up and put them on the sides. Another method I often use is placing walnut halves around the edge of the top of the cake.
Carrot cake is also great in cupcake form!
There's something so compelling about whoopie pies; they're the soft sweetness of cake with all the delicious icing, but in a no-fuss package. You don't need to mess around with plates and knives and forks with these babies, just pick them up out of their container and eat them. I hope that you enjoy this easy recipe!
Recipe adapted from: Top With Cinnamon via My Name Is Yeh
Ingredients - whoopie pies
110g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g white sugar
2 eggs
50g sour cream
2 tbsp cocoa powder
250g flour
1 tsp baking powder
Ingredients - icing
38g butter (room temperature is best)
75g cream cheese (room temperature is best)
1 tsp vanilla essence
75g icing sugar
Method - whoopie pies
1. Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F).
2. Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs and sour cream, beat until combined.
4. Stir in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder. Mix until combined and smooth. The batter should be nice and thick at this point.
5. Drop 1 1/2 tablespoon sized dollops of batter onto a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or baking paper. I used a piping bag for this, which is super quick and convenient, but you can just as easily use a spoon. The whoopie pies spread a bit so make sure you leave enough room between them.
6. Bake the whoopie pies for about 10 minutes, or until they are springy to the touch.
7. Set them onto a wire rack to cool, and get started making the icing!
Method - icing
1. Mix all the icing ingredients together. I find that using an electric hand beater or electric mixer is best for this, to ensure that everything's completely smooth.
2. Once the whoopie pies are cool, pair them up and spread one half of each pair with the icing.
3. Sandwich them together and enjoy!
I hope that you all had a great holiday and new year!
This cream cheese pound cake is one of my staple recipes, and one that I reach for very often when I need a basic vanilla cake or just something simple to snack on. It's great for cupcakes as well, because while it rises in the oven, it flattens down as it cools to form a perfect flat top for whatever decorations you desire.
Recipe adapted from: Bakerella
Ingredients (one 11 x 21 cm (4 x 8 inch) loaf or a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake)
115g butter
115g cream cheese
270g white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
100mL milk
210g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup berries (optional - I usually use frozen raspberries)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160C.
2. Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between.
4. Mix in the milk and vanilla.
5. Add the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
6. If desired, add the berries. For this particular loaf, I used some frozen mixed berries (including raspberries, blueberries and strawberries) and it was so delicious.
7. Pour the batter into a loaf tin or a 20cm round cake tin. If I'm just making this for the family, I usually just make a loaf because it's simple to cut and eat!
8. Bake the cake for about 1 hour, or until the top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
9. Let the cake cool before cutting. Alternatively, if you're making a layer cake or icing the loaf, do that first!
Finally, enjoy.
