Sunday Spoil: Carrot and walnut sponge cake with a zesty cream cheese frosting
The only way to make your Sunday even better is with this cake as a delicious dessert or served with afternoon tea.
You’ll need: For the sponge – 360ml sunflower oil; 500ml sugar; 6 eggs; 660ml flour; 5ml baking powder; 6ml bicarb of soda; 5ml ground cinnamon; pinch of salt; 250ml chopped walnuts (these can be substituted for almonds or pecans); 4 cups peeled and grated carrots; 30ml chopped candied ginger, optional.
Cream cheese icing – 250g full-fat cream cheese at room temperature; 100g butter at room temperature; 700g icing sugar; zest of an orange or any seasonal citrus fruit (like grapefruit).
How to:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line and grease 2 x 20cm cake tins with baking paper.
Beat the oil and sugar until light, then add the eggs one at a time beating well. Sift together flour, bicarb, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.
Fold the flour mixture into wet ingredients. Add the carrots and chopped nuts (*and ginger) and fold together until well incorporated. Weigh out batter equally into your two tins.
Place in preheated oven and bake for approximately an hour until the sponge springs back upon touching the top.
Cool in tins and place into airtight containers for at least three hours before icing
Beat together cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer with a flat paddle until lumps are gone
Add citrus zest. Sieve all icing sugar into the butter mix and beat well until incorporated (3 mins).
Weigh out icing for each layer so they are even.
Add a crumb coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Finish with the final coat.
Dust with chopped nuts or citrus zest to serve.
Recipe and image by uBaked.
