A cake that is very much a family favourite; this recipe has even converted those who would refuse to accept vegetables in baked goods normally!

Ingredients-

Ingredients for the cake:

• 350g grated carrots
• 50g pecan nuts
• 110g wholemeal plain flour
• 110g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 4 eggs
• 170g soft brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 8 UK Fluid Ounces vegetable oil

Ingredients for the topping:

• 200g cream cheese
• 60g softened/room temp unsalted butter
• 60-100g icing sugar (add a bit more of keep it at 60g depending on the desired texture)
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla bean paste (you can use extract but I personally prefer the paste when possible)

Methods –

For the cake:

– Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
– Line two 7inch (17-20cm) round cake tins.
– In a large bowl sift the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and bicarbonate of soda.
– Grate the carrots and chopped nuts into a separate bowl or leave on the chopping board.
– Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl along with the oil, golden syrup and brown sugar.
– Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and then stir in the carrots and nuts until just combined.
– You can weigh the mixture so that you can evenly pour it into each tin or you can just try to do this by eye.
– Place into the oven for 40-50 minutes.
– Once it has baked, leave in the tins to cool for 5-10 minutes then take them out and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the topping and filling:

– Beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy.
– Add the vanilla bean paste and ensure this is well combined. Then sift the icing sugar into the mixture a little at a time until it reaches the desired texture.

For the decoration:

– Once the cakes have full cooled down add a good layer of the cream cheese filling between the two cakes.
– Then add a generous amount onto the top of the cake, you can then decorate as you see fit, we tend to add a few pecans or walnuts.