For the cake:
200g carrots
50g walnuts
75g tinned pineapple
2 eggs
200g brown sugar
150ml sunflower oil
200g flour
40g desiccated coconut
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
For the frosting:
90g butter, room temperature
150g icing sugar
235g cream cheese
Also needed:
3 carrots with greens
Makes 1 cake of 20cm – Prep: 30 min – Oven: 30 min – Fridge: 1 ½h
Preheat oven to 160°C fan.
Line 2 round 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
Wash the carrots and grate them with the skin on. Finely chop the walnuts and the pineapple.
In a large bowl, cream the eggs and the sugar until pale and fluffy. Keep the whisk on at high speed, and add the oil in a steady stream.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, coconut, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, then fold through the egg mix. Once mixed, gently incorporate the grated carrot, the pineapple and the walnuts.
Divide the cake batter between the two cake tins and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the cakes onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
Prepare the frosting: In a bowl, cream the butter and the icing sugar together for a few minutes until completely smooth. Add the cream cheese and mix until smooth. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
Once the cakes are cool, put one cake disc on a serving plate and spread the top with half the frosting. Place the second cake disc on top and spread the remaining frosting over the top. Trim the greens of the remaining three carrots, and cut off the bottoms at varying heights. Stick a toothpick into the bottom of each carrot, then stick them into the cake. Decorate with rinsed carrot greens.
Refrigerate the cake for another hour before serving.
STORAGE: This cake will keep in the fridge for 4 days.
