Spiced Carrot Cake

Carrot cake…because carrots are in season and they are ‘healthyish’, aren’t they? Well, I think so. I discovered a gorgeous recipe on food52 which I continue to make with a few tweaks – namely upping the spices.

I made this for a party, frosted it with lemony cream cheese and decorated it with glazed carrot ribbons and mint that were part carrot, part candle. Sooooooooo so delicious, and a great way to use seasonal produce.

Nigeria’s 1st Seasonal Produce Calendar

Begin with some cake.

_DSC3372

Frost.

_DSC3374

Slather lemony cream cheese over the top, palette knife and all. I like to frost just the top and let it scallop wildly down the sides.

_DSC3380

And then, I lay – very carefully, candles and ribbons of glazed carrots.

_DSC3381_DSC3387

And top with the mint ‘wick’…

_DSC3393

The result fills my heart with pleasure – I feel accomplished. 

_DSC3400_DSC3408

At the ‘party’, it sported a single candle.

_DSC3441

Before I cut into wedges and served.

_DSC3462_DSC3459

It was delicious. The cake is soft, spiced, warm…the cream is citrusy and fresh, sweet and cool. I love, love, love it. And I’ve began to build on its success – like in my Agbalumo Carrot cake.

I hope you enjoy the recipe. Do you have a favourite carrot cake? Please share xxx

Spiced Carrot Cake
A spiced cake that celebrates the season of sweet, juicy, orange carrots. Adapted from a Food52 recipe - some ingredients changed: I add fresh and ground ginger, as well as switching the order of some steps in the making. I've halved the original recipe which makes two cakes. My version makes 1.
Write a review
Print
5289 calories
797 g
748 g
221 g
53 g
83 g
1771 g
2685 g
620 g
3 g
119 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
1771g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 5289
Calories from Fat 1947
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 221g
340%
Saturated Fat 83g
413%
Trans Fat 3g
Polyunsaturated Fat 23g
Monounsaturated Fat 96g
Cholesterol 748mg
249%
Sodium 2685mg
112%
Total Carbohydrates 797g
266%
Dietary Fiber 19g
75%
Sugars 620g
Protein 53g
Vitamin A
1151%
Vitamin C
122%
Calcium
109%
Iron
64%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. 1/4 cup butter
  2. 220gm cream cheese
  3. 2 cups icing sugar
  4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  5. Zest & Juice of 1 lemon
  6. A pinch of salt (optional)
Glazed carrot decoration
  1. 1 cup of granulated white sugar
  2. 1 - 2 carrots, peeled then sliced into ribbons
  3. Fresh mint leaves
Cake
  1. 2 cups carrots, shredded
  2. 1 cup plain flour
  3. ½ cup self-rising flour
  4. 1 teaspoon baking powder
  5. 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
  6. ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  7. ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
  8. ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
  9. ¼ teaspoon salt
  10. Zest & juice of 1 orange or tangelo
  11. 6 tablespoons/ 3/8 cup vegetable oil
  12. 6 tablespoons/ 3/8 cup yogurt, plain
  13. 6 tablespoons/ 3/8 cup granulated white sugar
  14. 6 tablespoons/ 3/8 cup brown sugar
  15. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  16. 2 eggs
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Cream butter and cream cheese
  2. Add icing sugar and mix well
  3. Finish with vanilla, lemon est and lemon juice - to taste. If using, add the salt now
  4. Refrigerate till ready to use
Glazed carrot decoration
  1. In a pan, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water and heat on medium to low heat
  2. Once the sugar dissolves, add the carrots. Stir to separate the ribbons
  3. Let cook till carrots glisten, about 3 - 5 minutes
  4. remove from the heat
  5. Remove the ribbons on to plate and let cool for decoration
Cake
  1. Grease and flour a 9" cake pan.
  2. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flours, baking powder, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and salt. Add carrots and orange zest and toss to coat.
  3. Combine the wet ingredients - yogurt, oil, orange and tangelo juice. Whisk till well combined
  4. In a bowl – with a mixer & paddle attachment or a whisk, beat sugar and eggs until light yellow and frothy. Add vanilla extract.
  5. Into the egg mixture, fold in flour mixture alternating with yogurt - oil mixture in 2/3 additions. I start and end with the flour mixture like this: flour mix - yogurt oil mix - flour mix - yogurt oil mix-flour mix.
  6. Fold in/ stir until just combined
  7. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Pour batter evenly into the pan and bake in the centre of the oven until golden, about 50-60 minutes.
  8. Allow to cool completely then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with glazed carrots
Adapted from Food 52
beta
calories
5289
fat
221g
protein
53g
carbs
797g
more
Adapted from Food 52
Kitchen Butterfly https://www.kitchenbutterfly.com/

2 Comments

  1. Noooooooo!!! It got cut *holds my hands to my chest* I’ve been thinking od doing a carrot cake again and I want something lemony too. I’ve just been scared of trying out a recipe that’d be a waste of time. This looks really good. Even though I haven’t figured out how to get or improve the ribbons, I’ve checked this into my “to bake” list.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    • Ha ha – yes it did. Thank you very much!

      The ribbons are easy – use a potato/ vegetable peeler to ‘shave’ off strips along the length of the carrot…and voila…you’re halfway there.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.