Our neighbour Mark used to live in an inner-city apartment.
When he moved into Mrs M’s house next door, he was ecstatic to find a well-established veggie patch and masses of lawn to mow. One of the first thing he did was plant carrots – he opened a packet of seed and emptied it into the garden bed.
As Mrs M’s soil was so fertile, he ended up with squillions of gnarly, skinny carrots. He’s brought over kilos for us – here are just a few of them…
They’re beautifully sweet, and quite pretty after washing and peeling…
At Pete’s request, I made this carrot cake, adapted from a recipe by Stephanie Alexander. I ended up altering the ingredients quite a bit – I substituted roasted peeled hazelnuts for the walnuts, and used grapeseed oil instead of olive oil. Both of these were deliberate changes – we’re not big walnut fans, and I always feel olive oil can overpower other flavours in a cake.
I baked the cake in a springform 20cm (8 inch) pan instead of the 18cm one specified, which meant the finished cake was a little flatter than expected. I also coarsely grated the carrots – the original recipe called for them to be finely grated, but I didn’t have the patience – and added a little lemon juice to the icing to balance out the butter and cream cheese.
The end result was a homely, comforting cake which everyone loved.
- 125g (4½ oz) self-raising flour
- 150g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 140g (²/3 cup) vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 250g (2 cups) coarsely grated carrot
- 75g (½ cup) roasted peeled hazelnuts, chopped (original recipe specified walnuts)
1. Preheat oven to 180C (360F) or 160C (320F) with fan. Grease and line either an 18cm (7″) or a 20cm (8″) round cake tin.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl or measuring jug, whisk together the oil and eggs. Add this to the flour, and beat with an electric mixer for a minute or so until combined.
3. Stir in the carrot and hazelnuts, then pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin. If you’re using an 18cm cake tin, bake for about an hour; if using a 20cm tin, reduce this time to about 50 minutes. The cake is cooked when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool in the tin before removing and icing.
Lemon Icing
- 60g (¼ cup) softened unsalted butter
- 125g (4½oz) softened cream cheese
- 115g (4oz) icing sugar mixture (confectioner’s sugar), sifted
- lemon juice
In a small mixing bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together, then beat in the sifted icing sugar. Add enough lemon juice to form a spreadable icing.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
yum! Those carrots look like the real deal – all crunchy and just a quick wash before being enjoyed :)
Hehe…Tandy, more like a quick scrub and peel! They actually took a while to prepare – I have renewed respect for restaurants which served whole baby carrots – it’s hard to get all the dirt out! :)
The carrots are MUCH prettier after washing and peeling :) And yes, comforting is just the word for your cake!
Cindy, Pete’s brother wasn’t well and hadn’t eaten in a day or so, but he wolfed down a large wedge of this cake. Pete told him it had all the food groups in it – veg, oil, carbs and protein from the nuts. :)
I just cannot resist a good moist carrot cake and I love the idea of lemon juice in the icing.
Oh dear, I would love a slice of that now with a cup of tea.
Have a super day.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, I have to say that I’ve never been a huge fan until now. It might be Mark’s carrots – they were very sweet, but I have to admit, it wasn’t easy grating teeny carrots! :) Hope you have a great weekend too!
Yum! I often substitute applesauce for some of the oil for health and taste…wish my neighbour would drop some carrots off for me.
Em, now that’s a good idea! I’m sure I still have some apple butter kicking around in the pantry – we made a huge batch a couple of years ago…
Oh wow. I adore ccarrot cake – by far my favourite cake! Awesome looking carrots too. I love vegetables that aren’t from the supermarket – they look so… real.
I’ve never had them before, but they’ve been fabulous! Mark says he knows what he’s doing now, so next year he’s going to plant in nice ordered rows. :)
Those carrots look so perfectly fresh! I shouldn’t be reading this right now…I’m soooo hungry and waiting for the lunch bell to ring…can you send me a piece of that delicious-looking cake right now, pretty please? ;)
Abby, if I could, I’d run a slice over to you right now! :)
Well I look forward to trying this as my old carrot cake recipe is just SO TUESDAY (outdated) and yours looks so good, plus i love the icing! c
Cecilia, I think the hazelnuts worked really well. I never really liked carrot cake before, but I think that was simply that I didn’t like the walnuts in it. Hmm..and the pineapple that seemed to be a necessary inclusion during the eighties..ugh.. :)
I love Ceciliag’s SoTuesday comment!
My carrot cake could use a revamp as well.
I’m going to make yours next time.
Wish I had some fresh carrots!
Heidi, if you lived in our neighbourhood, I’d share with you. Mark’s brought over kilos – literally – I’ve also made the Ottolenghi Moroccan carrot salad (I loved it, but Pete didn’t!).
i haven’t made carrot cake in years..not because i don’t like it..i do..i really do..i just forgot about it..so thanks for the reminder and for a great looking adaptation of stephanie’s recipe..just wish i had some of those carrots..:)
Jane, I hadn’t made one in years either! I was surprised by how much I liked this – I haven’t liked carrot cakes in the past!
I haven’t made carrot cake in a long time, Mr Chocolate is a big fan.
The icing was always the best bit as a kid, lick it all off and leave the cake :-)
Absolutely! Cream cheese icing is almost always a winner, eh? ;-)
Oh Hazlenuts are different! Must try that. And I love the distinction between finely grated and coarsely grated. To me, grated is grated! I always presume any other adjective is just to make the recipe look fancy ;)
Kat, I nearly did my knuckles in grating those thin little carrots. Next time I’m going to use the food processor (I was feeling lazy and didn’t want the washing up!). :)
The fact that I have all the ingredients for this in my house and exactly 125g of cream cheese left over from making your lemon cream cheese cake means I just must make this today. It looks like the perfect weekend treat. Thanks Celia!
Claire, I’m so glad you liked that lemon cream cheese cake. It’s a real house favourite here!
In an 8″ pan, the carrot cake is a flat little cake, but a nice size for us, not too big! :)
Looks divine. I will have to try this one!
Thanks for stopping by, Meg! Hope you enjoy the cake! :)
I get frequent requests for carrot cake in this house as everyone loves it. we are all just fine with walnuts here, but if I’ve got them I sub pecans as they are my favourite. I also love the idea of a bit of lemon juice in the icing – would cut that richness quite nicely..
Amanda, this is one of Pete’s faves, but the boys aren’t quite so keen. Small Man doesn’t want to eat any cake that isn’t brown. ;-)
So yummy looking, and those are the best cakes, the homey comforting ones aren’t they?
My cheffy trick for the baby carrots Celia, is not to peel them, but use a dark green scourer pad and holding in your lefthand wrap it around the carrot gently and pull it through a few times. The skin on those littlies is very thin so it works really well and quickly. But I would use a food processor for grating them though :)
Becca, these weren’t really that thin-skinned, they were quite mature carrots that had grown all clumped up together, so they’d all curled around each other and were quite skinny! A food processor is a very good idea – I nearly grated off my knuckles… :)
Always made one with almond meal, no flour, very moist and good for the gluten phobes. Yours looks more decadent with icing although I admit to eating mine with cream.
Roz, that sounds like a great alternative with the almond meal. I can imagine that it would go really well with the carrots…
Lovely cake Celia and I agree with you about the Olive Oil
Now I just have to have a “whinge” at you…
Since I have been following your blog I
a) now have 3 chickens;
b) have reconnected with my ailing veggie patch
c) am attempting a sourdough starter and Lord knows where that’s going to end…
d) am today going to the Chef’s Warehouse – and I’m taking my credit card…..
AND
my Computer programming husband is now being harassed daily for my own blog so I can join in the fun (well the nagging got me the “Chook Mahal”!)
So thanks for being so prolific with your blogging and your HUGE kind heart which comes through in every post
You truly are an inspiration!!!!
Julia X
Julia, what a lovely comment, thank you so much!
Aren’t chooks just the best thing? And I hope you had fun at Chefs’ – one of my favourite places to shop! I always tell people who are going there to make sure they take money.. ;-) Did you buy anything really interesting?
Please let me know when you start your blog, would love to read about what you’ve been up to. And if you’re looking for a blogging platform to use, I can highly recommend WordPress – I’ve always been completely delighted with their product and support services!
http://www.wordpress.com
Thanks again! :)
Celia
Love the walnut substitute :) Stud hates walnuts so this would be a perfect swap! Those carrots do look delish! Love it when they’re smaller – much more character
Nic, the roasted hazelnuts are really nice in this cake – I think that’s why I like it so much! Don’t know if you saw my recent In My Kitchen post, but you inspired me to make taramosalata! Thanks! :)
Your cake looks great. Finally a recipe without pineapple! I have a large surplus of carrots right now, so I’ll try it soon. My children like to lick off all the icing, then leave the cake for me!
Manuela, see, that’s what I think too! Why the pineapple? :)
Small people are too funny – sometimes I think we should make two bowls of icing, one for the cake and the other for them to eat! :)
What a wonderful gift! Plus the cake looks lovely and moist which is a must for a good carrot cake :)
L, I wish you could have seen them when he brought them over, all wet and dripping with mud, and so heavy that they were hard to carry! :) Cleaned up a treat though, and soooo tasty!
That looks so yummy! I must try planting carrots in my garden like that. So easy! ;)
I wanted to ask you if there’s a sourdough book you recommend. I have had lots of success with my own starter but now I’m ready for more information on making my sourdough even better. But I still don’t want to make it too technical. I like your style. So do you have any suggestions? Thanks for a beautiful blog!
Leah, thanks for your kind words, I’m glad you enjoy the blog!
For a non-technical sourdough book and a first sourdough book, I’d HIGHLY recommend Dan Lepard’s The Handmade Loaf. It’s a great mix of travel tales (from Dan’s visit to various bakeries in different countries) and superb sourdough and yeasted recipes. All clearly laid out with photos and there isn’t any need to calculate percentages or figure out hydration ratios. Lots of very clever ideas too.
Here are some examples of recipes from Dan’s book that I’ve written up in the past – they might give you a feel for his recipes:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/05/13/dan-lepard-ricotta-loaf/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/09/21/flatbread/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/03/13/maize-and-wheat-loaf/
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/06/08/more-grain-loaves/
Thank you very much, Celia! You are so generous in your responses to your blog. I appreciate it!
Really super looking cake Celia!! It does seem simple and the substitutions are perfect since my hubby can’t stand walnuts. I’ve never made carrot cake before, because its never been my favorite, but I might give this a try. I always keep baby carrots in the fridge and I just throw a handful into my mini food processor if I need them grated. I hate how it turns the processor bowl orange though :( but the color eventually comes off.
Mel, I’ll do that next time, as the little carrots weren’t easy to grate by hand! I made a curry powder in my food processor and the turmeric turned the bowl yellow!
Celia: I am laughing so hard right. You made this beautiful carrot cake and I have one in the oven that comes from a box. As you know by now I am not a baker, but had a hankering for carrot cake and saw the box at the supermarket and voila….
Norma, I’m sure it’s delicious – carrot cake is one of those ones that’s hard to get wrong, I think (unless you put pineapple in it!). :)
Oh dear, I like the pineapple version! My last carrot cake was made by non-baking daughter and husband for my birthday! They had selected a much more difficult cake recipe but we we missing a few ingredients. I hinted that a carrot cake would be much easier. Delicious!
Ah well Liz, that’s why we’re all different, I guess! :) I’m actually not a big pineapple fan, although I do love pineapple juice. Time has moved on, and the latest fad seems to be including it in a curry! :)
What if you can’t get any simple carrots?
Then you might need to make a more sophisticated carrot cake, Cosmo.. :)
I love those fresh and organic looking carrot… they makes the cake sounds even more delicious :)
Thanks Tes! The carrots were really lovely…
Carrots fresh out of the garden have such an incredible taste. No telling how old the ones from the market are because they never taste the same. I bet your cake tasted great.
Karen, it really did, thank you! I’ve tried the same recipe with bought carrots, and it just wasn’t the same!
Looks great Celia – I love carrot cake and yours looks deliciously moist. How kind of your neighbour to share his bounty, but I’m sure he receives lovely gifts from you too!
Yes, he’s a generous soul, and it’s lovely to have him next door! :)
Oh, I do like cake and I can’t think why people got so sniffy when Marie Antoinette said “let them eat cake”:) However, seeing as I tough it out at the gym 3 nights a week and make an absolute turkey of myself at Zumba – pictures of cake are my idea of pornography! That does look so yum and I have the perfect excuse to make it – it would be good for my veggie hating grandson:)
Jan, you are good to work out – you deserve a cake treat! ;-)
Have you tried zucchini slice for your grandson? It’s the one vegetable dish I’ve seen small people devour.. :)
I just had a look at zucchini slice – I would have to think of some way of naming the orange and green ‘bits’ to get it past Zaccy’s lips – come to that even off the plate and into his hand. It doesn’t matter how much the rest of us stuff our cheeks and exclaim, ooh yum, etc. He’s a challenge.
Love the look of those big crunchy hazelnuts. Well done for peeling and scraping all those carrots!
Thanks, Sally! The hazelnuts really do make a difference! :)
Homely comforting cakes are often the best. You say you have no patience for finely grating the carrots, but you did for peeling them. I am in awe – I never peel carrots.
Choc, these were so gnarly and twisted that I couldn’t get all the dirt out of them without peeling! They were also a bit hairy. Does CT have a trick for growing hairless carrots? :)
Hello Celia
I have been following your blog for some time and have been delighted with your recommendations for suppliers. A while back you mentioned buying eggs at a good price, I think 60 at a time. Could you let me know the supplier and also if you know where to get a good price for a case of lemons second garde? Yes, you guessed it I am embarking on Lemon Butter making, grin!
Yours in hope
Jenny x
Hi Jenny, thanks for reading the blog! :)
Before we had chooks, we bought our eggs at Flemington Markets, where you can buy trays of 30 at a time for a very reasonable price. It’s also your best bet for buying a box of lemons economically…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/08/08/flemington-markets/
Have fun with the lemon butter – are you making it the old fashioned way, or in the microwave? (It’s sooo easy in the microwave! :))
Cheers, Celia
Thanks for your quick reply Celia…if I remember correctly you did mention the name of the suplier, any ideas? x
Sorry Jenny, I don’t know the names of any of the suppliers at Flemington Markets, but I know there are a few egg sellers there, so you should be able to find some. They’re open to the public Friday, Saturday and Sunday – Saturday is a complete nightmare, but Friday or very early Sunday morning are quite civilized. :)
Thanks sooo much for update on eggs and lemons
jenny x
Now that looks RICH!!!
God Bless You
paul
Thanks Paul! May He bless you too! :)