Carrot Cake

With its spiced flavour, moist crumb and velvety frosting, it's no wonder carrot cake is truly a classic. Requiring minimal equipment, the cake mix is assembled by the time the oven has heated up. We recommend using mixed spice, but if you don’t have any at home, substitute for ground cinnamon and ground ginger. Using dark brown sugar rather than caster sugar gives the cake a deep, richer flavour. It’s a great cake to make the day before, as the taste and texture won’t be compromised after a couple of days thanks to the use of oil rather than butter. For an extra crunch, add walnuts or pecans into the mixture, toasting them in the oven for 10 minutes before adding them. This recipe is for a carrot cake as a tray bake, but if you want to use a 24cm spring form cake tin, keep the same temperature but cook the cake for 45 minutes.

Method

1. Preheat a Miele Oven to 175°C on Fan plus.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and oil and whisk until thick. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking between each addition to combine.

3. Sieve together the flour, mixed spice, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir into the wet mixture. Add the grated carrots, orange zest, drained sultanas and coconut. Mix well to combine everything and ensure there are no pockets of dry flour.

4. Transfer into a lined 23cm x 32cm rectangle cake tin and place into the preheated oven. Cook for 25 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to settle for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. For the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter together and using an electric whisk, beat until pale and light. Add the icing sugar and salt a little at a time until fully incorporated and whisk until light and fluffy.

6. Wait until the cake is completely cold before frosting using a small spatula or palette knife.