CARROT CAKE OR IT'S ALIAS WALNUT CAKE

Good Morning to you,

When I lived in Cyprus, I used to make Carrot Cake for my Cypriot friends.  They liked the rich texture of this cake, BUT..... I could not call it Carrot Cake, because if I did,  my friends would not eat it, so the cake was renamed Walnut Cake!

 It was my turn to host our Morning Sewing Group and I thought a Carrot Cake would make a nice edition to the table.   I baked the cake and placed it on the table with other baked goodies.  My Cypriot friend (who shall remain nameless as I don't want to embarrass her) took a piece  and said how delicious it was. She then  asked me the name of the cake.  I said it was called Carrot Cake, at which point she put the cake down and asked "Why would you put carrots in a cake, they are a vegetable".  I explained how the carrots helped to make this a very moist cake, but you could tell by her facial expression that she  really was not convinced. You can imagine her total    surprise, when I told her the topping was a mixture of cream cheese and icing sugar!  Well, that was just too much, carrots and cheese in a cake, she said that wasn't right.  Suffice it to say,  although she enjoyed the cake, before finding out what was in it, she put the cake down and didn't finish it.  She  enjoyed a slice of  Lemon Cake instead, which to her was much more acceptable, as yes it was right to put lemons in a cake!

.....and so my humble Carrot Cake was reinvented as a Walnut Cake!

INGREDIENTS

250g plain flour

250g soft brown sugar

pinch of slat

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

175ml sunflower oil

2 large eggs, lightly whisked

1 tsp vanilla essence

500 g grated carrot

125g walnuts, chopped

50 g dessicated coconut

 CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

250g soft cheese

250g icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

METHOD

Butter and line a 20 cm cake tin

Bake at 180c/Gas Mark 4 for 1 1/4 hours

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl

Add the oil, eggs, vanilla and mix until the ingredients are combined.

 Add the carrots and mix thoroughly.

Add the walnuts and coconut and stir.

 Place into baking tin

 Place in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes

Place a skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked.

Place on a wire baking rack to cool 

 Whilst the cake is cooling make the cheese frosting.

Soften the cheese with a fork, then slowly add the sifted icing sugar, beat well until mixed. (If you have a mixer this will be a lot quicker)

Stir in the lemon juice

When the cake has cooled cover the top with the cream cheese frosting. 

 As you can see from the photograph, this is a dense, moist cake.

This was George's portion! 

This week I shall be joining:

Wow us Wednesday 

at Savvy Southern Style

Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits

at StoneGable

Foodie Friends Friday

at Robyn's View

 FridayFind a Friend

at Sew Many Ways

See you later in the week, take care until then,

Best Wishes

Daphne xxx