Carrot Cake

Can a cake be moist yet light at the same time? Isn't that like asking a woman to be skinny and curvy? Yes, ideal women do exist, and so do ideal cakes.

I'm not that into cakes and neither is the rest of my extended clan. We find most cakes too rich and filling, especially after a heavy meal. And our meals are always heavy when we get together!

But there's one cake that has everyone's approval: Angela Nilsen's Carrot Cake, from The Ultimate Recipe Book. We love it 'cause it's really moist yet really light. No one needs any strong Chinese tea to wash down this yummy babe!

Before I found Angela Nilsen's recipe, we always had lots of leftover cake whenever we had a birthday do. To cut down on the wastage, we even tried having a small little cake once. But a crowd of 20 people singing happy birthday around a tiny six-incher was so miserable it was funny. That has become one of our most memorable birthday parties 'cause we laughed so hard we were bent double.

Now, we don't have a wastage problem anymore. We take turns to bake Angela Nilsen's Carrot Cake, and it's beautifully done every single time. It's so easy it doesn't matter who's baking it, and there's never any leftover. If there were, it keeps really well apparently and is even better after a day or two.

CARROT CAKE Source: The Ultimate Recipe Book, Angela Nilsen (Cuts into 16 pieces) 85 g Brazil nuts, toasted and fairly finely chopped finely grated zest of 1 medium orange 2 tbsp orange juice 115 g raisins 225 g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 rounded tsp ground cinnamon 175 g dark muscovado sugar 175 g sunflower oil 3 eggs 280 g finely grated carrot (2-3 carrots) Icing 50 g icing sugar, sifted if very lumpy 50 g butter, at room temperature 100 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature finely grated zest of 1 orange 1 tsp lemon juice Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Oil and line a deep 20-cm square cake tin with parchment paper. Soak raisins in orange juice. Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Put sugar in a large bowl. Rub with fingers to break up lumps. Add oil and beat till smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and gently stir till evenly mixed. Fold in carrots, nuts, raisins (and any liquid) and orange zest. Pour batter into cake tin. Bake for 1 hour until risen, firm on top, and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Let cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the paper and let it cool down completely. Beat butter with icing sugar till smooth. Add cheese, orange zest and lemon juice. Beat till smooth again. Spread over completely cold cake. Chill to firm up icing. Serve.

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