Classic carrot cake

I’m not going to pretend otherwise: this is today’s hit. Carrot cake, which I’d never made before. Today I asked Nina whether we should bake a cake. I was thinking of a simple chocolate cake, but no, she didn’t want to make that. Instead, she mentioned the lovely carrot cake she’d recently eaten at her aunt’s.

Well, that was music to my ears. I’d always dreamed of making a cake like that, actually. What’s more, I’m ashamed to admit I’d never even eaten one. So that settled it.

And it turned out to be a hit. Quite a moist, sweet cake with a very delicate frosting, though certainly not a light one. A calorie bomb, in two words. Yet so good that it was the only thing anyone asked for seconds of today, and, hmm… Mum, who had prepared the lunch menu, watched enviously as the guests asked for more dessert.

It’s a pretty good cake. And Nina and I are bursting with pride because it turned out our way 🙂 I recommend it. And here’s my little girl at work („Oh Daddy, Daddy, my arms are aching from all this stirring. Your turn now!”):

And it would be unfair of me not to mention that the inspiration for this recipe came from here. Only mine is bigger, and definitely without walnuts, because an allergic reaction would kill me and probably half the guests into the bargain 😉

At a glance:

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

Baking temperature: 180 degrees Celsius

Serves: oh, about 6 portions, counting seconds

How many calories: rabbits don’t count calories

Ingredients for carrot cake (a cup means a standard 0.25 ml mug):

• 1 and a half cups of grated carrot (finely grated, using a 250 ml mug)
• 3/4 cup of chopped pineapple (fresh, cut into short, narrow strips)
• 1 and 2/3 cups of wheat flour
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• half a cup of rapeseed oil
• 1 and a half teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 and a half teaspoons of baking powder
• 3 hen’s eggs
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 2 heaped tablespoons of butter
• 8 tablespoons of icing sugar
• half a small bottle of vanilla flavouring (from a 10 ml bottle)
• 135 grams of plain cream cheese (such as Philadelphia; I used „Łaciaty”)
• breadcrumbs

A very classic carrot cake recipe:

The easiest thing is to break this down into steps:

1. I beat three hen’s eggs in a large mug and poured in half a standard mug of rapeseed oil. I mixed it thoroughly.

2. I finely grated the carrots to give me 1 and a half cups of carrot. I peeled a small fresh pineapple and cut a third of it into short strips (1/3 of that small pineapple).

3. I put the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice into a large bowl. I mixed everything together. I added the eggs mixed with the oil. I mixed it very thoroughly.

4. I added the grated carrot and pineapple to the bowl of batter. I mixed it very thoroughly. The batter should be fairly uniform.

5. I greased a round tin (35 cm in diameter) with butter and coated it with breadcrumbs. I poured in the batter and spread it with a spoon (so it was even across the whole tin).

6. I preheated the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and baked the cake for 40 minutes (until a skewer came out clean).

7. I let the cake cool.

8. I put the Philadelphia-style cream cheese (the „Łaciaty” one in my case), 2 tablespoons of butter (soft, at room temperature, not straight from the fridge), icing sugar and vanilla flavouring into a small bowl. First I mixed it with a spoon, then used a blender to make it smooth.

9. I spread the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar mixture over the top of the cooled cake. I sprinkled it with cinnamon. Carrot cake ready. Enjoy!