Carrot cake

Ok, I am trying to think calm thoughts, to be quiet and calm and think straight so I can try and string words together coherently. But the truth is I am SO EXCITED I can hardly contain myself, can hardly type because I am brimming over with delight and happiness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the cause for such celebration, for such complete joy?
A recipe.
A simple, beautiful, old fashioned, no-frills, wonderful, ecsquisite recipe.
I can't begin to tell you how happy I have been this morning :: apron on, radio on, pottering around in my kitchen, baking this cake. Happy, happy happy.

So. Let me elaborate before you shake your head and assume I have gone completely off the rails into loony-land. This is all about Carrot cake. Yes, carrot cake. Oh how I adore this cake! If you were to ask my Little People What is Mummy's Favourite Cake, they will instantly declare it to be Carrot cake. They know me, they know this to be The Truth.

But do you know what? Up until this very day, I have never ever been able to find a carrot cake recipe that produces a cake that works out. And even if the cake has somehow worked out (ie risen and been cooked properly, not too dry, not soggy in the middle etc) it is often not the exact sort of carrot cake I like. I don't like added extras (walnuts, sultanas, coconut, pineapple???). I prefer a light, airy sponge to  a dark, dense one, but it still has to be moist. I cannot stand dry cakes. And the frosting on top : I have never ever been able to make these work out either. Most recipes I have come across use a  cream cheese frosting, and for me this just does not work. The frosting never sets properly, it remains slippy and slidy and runny and just not right.
But today, in my quest to try just one more recipe to see if it could be The One, I hit gold.
I produced a cake which, in my humble opinion, ticks all the boxes of a perfect carrot cake.
Sponge :: light and airy, yet moist and tasty.
Ingredients :: simple.
Frosting :: NO cream cheese involved, this frosting recipe was a total revelation.

So let me share my find with you. It comes from a little neat booklet of recipes created by an old fashioned UK Flour company called Be-Ro.
One weekend when I was visiting the in-laws, M had produced the most amazing orange cake, so I asked if I could have the recipe. She showed me her little "Home Recipes" booklet from Be-Ro and I scribbled down 3 recipes that appealed to me at the time:: Moist orange cake, Strawberry Muffins and Carrot Cake.
I immediately liked the sound of the carrot cake recipe, because it is simple. I had quite high hopes for it being The One, just from looking at the ingredients list.

Into a bowl, put the following ::
225g Self Raising Flour
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice.

Stir in the following ::
150g soft, dark brown sugar (now I used light brown sugar cos that's all I had, and it worked great. Not sure how different the dark sugar would make it?)
150g grated carrot (2 medium carrots, I grated them very fine)

Make a well in the centre and add ::
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
150ml oil (now then, I used olive oil which is all I had, but truly this was not the best, should have been a light, flavourless oil)

Now Beat it! Yeah! Put music on and give it some welly! I used an electric whisk on High power, and really whisked it good. The mixture is sloppy, like a heavy batter.

Pour it into a lined tin (the recipe said an 11x7" tin but I don't have one, so I used my 8" square brownie pan).
Bake for 40mins, 180 C / 350 F / gas 4.

While the cake is baking, make the frosting.
Put into a heatproof bowl the following ::
50g butter
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
rind of half the orange.

Put in microwave for 45 secs or so until butter has melted.
Beat in 225g icing sugar until smooth.
This makes a lovely, pale yellow, orangey sweet topping. It is quite simply perfect.

Once the cake has cooled, spread the Frosting liberally over the top. My little touch was to add some finely shredded orange rind for decoration.

Cut into squares, and marvel at how light the sponge is, how well the zesty frosting sits in a  nice generous layer without sliding off.

Now make yourself a brew, sit in the sunniest part of the house and eat. Oh!!!! It is so so so perfectly cakey and good! Sweet and moist, light and airy. Almost too good to be true.
Eat one more piece just to be sure. Mmmmm yes it really is Delicious.

Ok, I need just one more bit to really, really make sure this is The One.
And it is.
The One.
Happy happy happy.

Comments

[Clare]

You are a star, I used to make this regularly with my Mum and wanted to make it for my family. However, checking my be-ro book it's not in the latest addition but now I can make it.

[Kim]

Still loving this recipie after all these years! Hubby's birthday cake tomorrow, thanks for sharing.

[Kerri]

Hi this is years ago but I've just found it !! Can I use melted butter instead of oil? I can't digest oil and never use it
Thanks

[sue]

Self-rising flour가 없다면, 중력분 1컵(120g), 베이킹 파우더 1 tsp(4g), 소금 1/4 tsp(1g)
[출처] 셀프라이징 밀가루?|작성자 다홍

[Gen]

Hi, how much of FLOUR ???
A french admirer of your blog....... somewhere close to Versailles.

[Claire Hayden]

Hi Lucy, Yesterday I made the carrot cake with orange frosting recipe you have on your blog and it is SUPER DE-LI-CIOUS!!!! Thank you for sharing it. Amazingly a few pieces left but by the end of today it will be all gone - yummmmmmy! Good Luck in all your new adventures. Claire from Reading :-)

[Personal Injury Attorney Alaska]

I thought this carrot cake was okay, nothing spectacular though. I made it for my husband for his birthday, he LOVES carrot cake, and he thought it was just ok too.

[Timi]

IVe made this cake today and it's really yummy!!! Thank you very much for the recipe! :o)

[Lynn]

I'm a bit late to the party, but have just made this cake and it's really delicious, and so easy. The frosting, which I much prefer to the cream cheese version, could have been a bit more orangey for me, but to be fair, the orange I used was rather ancient! Thank you for the recipe.

[kamagra]

Although I'm not into carrot cake lover but looks yummy. Thanks for posting, I'll try this soon.

[Leanne]

Hi Lucy.
I just found your blog a few weeks ago and have yet to find another blog that is such a nice combination of colour, home life and crafty goodness!
I'm writing here because this post really made me laugh. :-) out comes the bero book then. Thanks.
Leanne in Scotland. x

[Hypnotherapy London]

MMMMMMMM!! Yum! Love your blog. Keep the great tips comming, please....!!

[Healthy Foods Blog]

The inner core of the cake looks so fine and high of quality. I love it!

- Tera

[Anne]

Sounds Delicious. This is one of the best carrot Cake. I think you define very well in the above pictures. I will tried it. Thanks for sharing.

[Darina]

Dear, Lucy

yet another lovely recipe on your blog! i tried it yesterday and i can't tell you how happy i and all my family were! this is the best cake i have ever made and we all enjoyed it very very much! since we don't have oranges in this time of year here i used lemon instead(: the sour icing worked brilliantly, my mother said it makes the cake quite spicy(: thank you again for sharing such easy and dalicious recipes with us!
Dara

P.S. My photo of the cake isn't nearly as beautiful as yours but there it is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39589482@N07/3814438466/
(I used ordinary white sugar)

[Madhu]

My,my I just discovered your link and am having so much fun. The wonders of modern technology and YOU!!!! Thanks.
Do visit my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mielbakes-madhu

[ginny]

just baked the carrot cake and it is delicious!! thank you for posting. i re-read your post again and realise that it's a be-ro recipe. My mother in law bought me a wee booklet in 97 and i use it a lot... this recipe is not in it though but the moist orange cake is.. may give that one a whirl.... just made a crumble too... me and baking.. just like buses... none for a while and then two or three come along at the same time.
xx

[Eilidh]

This is uncanny. DH and I were just saying at the weekend that it was annoying that despite carrot cake being one of our favourite cakes I had never made it. And the whole reason was I didn't have a decent recipe. So thank you so much for this, I'll definitely be trying it.

[Maizie]

Now there is a recipe fit for a steaming cuppa. If the kids weren't in bed I would dash to the shops RIGHT NOW. Have set my alarm for the morning.

You are naughtly Lucy, very clever, but naughty, love a salivating Maizie xxx

[simone]

This cake is a must try. I like the look of the frosting. I have never made frosting this way before and it looks so much nicer than cream cheese!

[Cele]

This looks so delicious.

[driftwood]

oh, my mum has a bero cook book, it is the oldest tattiest thing, but everything she makes is heavenly......... your carrot cake looks divine!

[inkberryblue]

It looks scrumptious...and would be a wonderful birthday cake for my mother ~ who loves carrot cake and who's very nostalgic about Bero cookery books (she was born in Scotland and used to bake from them as a girl.)

By the way, you sent me a lovely email, an embarrassingly long time, ago about my crochet daisy blanket and I wanted to say thank you. I've been looking through your blog too ~ it's a delight!

Happy weekend!

[Ali]

Now that really does look tasty.

[kitschen pink]

Isn't it bliss when you find a recipe that works without any tweaks! I use my Bero book all the time - they'll send you one for less than £2.00! I also have the one's that belonged to my mum and my gran! I'm trying to ignore the recipes for cake at the mo but now I'll have to bake something or I'm going to be craving for weeks!! t.x