My Favourite Carrot Cake

Rich, sweet, dark to the point of being slightly caramelised, and coated with a tangy, smooth lemon cream cheese icing – my absolute favourite carrot cake.  Jump to Recipe 

Two weeks has passed since I last posted a recipe – these Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies. By far the most popular recipe I have blogged, it went gained more traction on the vast unknowns of the internet than other recipes combined. Maybe it was the ooze of the dripping, sticky caramel, maybe it was just good timing with social media, or maybe chocolate and brownies just tempt people more than other, less visceral forms of baked goods. Whatever it was, I was very grateful, and hope that many of you out there got to enjoy the comforting indulgence of a slab of chocolate brownie – one of life’s greatest pleasures, in my opinion!

My main written exam for this semester of university was yesterday afternoon, and it is difficult to explain the absolute relief that it brought. Swot vac, the 10 days prior to the exam devoted to studying to the exclusion of everything else, is its own form of torture. Sitting at a desk for hours at a time, desperately attempting to fit masses of information into my brain and remember minute details that might just possibly come up in one of 100 multiple choice questions, seems to lead to a state of mental exhaustion only relieved by actually sitting the exam. The interminable length of this study break, however, means the actually reality of the exam seems to only hit a couple of days before, resulting in excessive procrastination prior to this point – I did manage to spend a lot of time exploring other food blogs around the world and envisaging the many things that I would love to make on getting back to Auckland!

Maybe this state would have been relieved somewhat if I had been able to cook during the week – channel some of that extra energy into the kitchen and remove myself from renal and endocrine physiology for a period – I guess I will find that out in next year’s exams when I am no longer at college. I don’t remember it being this bad at high school anyway, though maybe having to study 5 very different subjects meant being able to switch it up a bit more. I can certainly believe the often repeated statistic (at least, repeated to us at medical school) that up to 75% of Australian medical students experience burnout by their final year (burnout being ‘exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration’) – a competitive course full of students who will push themselves to their limits in order to succeed, hospital environments where, by many accounts, bullying occurs regularly (see here and here for more), long hours, difficult exams, and other factors that as a pre-clinical student (not yet in hospitals), I have not yet experienced, all play a role.

This isn’t to say that I am not enjoying my degree: what we are learning is hugely interesting and only makes you want to know more to understand it all better – but just that the pressure of swot vac is not my favourite way to learn. Walking out of that exam room yesterday really did feel like a weight had lifted from my shoulders, as cliche as that sounds, and I absolutely cannot wait to head home next week for the holidays. I need to let out some of the many ideas and inspiration for new recipes and photography that have been building in my head lately – from salted caramel rhubarb pistachio layer cake, sticky date, ginger and chocolate pudding and roasted pear and chocolate meringues to banana bread berry french toast and lemon curd crumpets – I cannot wait!

In the meantime, I will leave you with my favourite ever carrot cake recipe. And I have made many carrot cakes, trust me. By Dean Brettschneider, it is moist, rich and sweet with a soft but dense crumb, dark to the point of being slightly caramelised thanks to the addition of dark brown sugar and a low, slow cooking time, and, when coated with a tangy, smooth lemon cream cheese icing, is absolute perfection. These photos were taken all the way back in February when I was just starting out with my camera so not all together happy with them, but they will do for today – I couldn’t wait to share this cake.

Not just one of my favourite carrot cakes, but one of my favourite all-time cakes – and that is saying something. At this point in time, I cannot imagine finding a better recipe. All it takes is one bowl and is perfect for afternoon tea, for the weekend, for birthdays and celebrations, for work, for school, for whatever you want – it will always go down well.

As for me, I will enjoy my last week in Melbourne until August (!) with a few cafe trips (I am sure there will be a few reviews up this weekend!), a bit of study for a final assessment next week (that doesn’t actually count for anything, thank goodness), and more planning of food to make when I get home – if you have any ideas or anything you would like to see here, please let me know! I would love to hear from you.

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My Favourite Carrot Cake - The Brick Kitchen

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 50 mins

 

Dean Brettschneider's Farmhouse Carrot Cake with my own cream cheese icing.

Course: Baking

Servings: 10 -12

Author: Claudia Brick

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

• 200 g plain flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 170 g white sugar
• 170 g dark brown sugar (regular brown sugar works too)
• 275 ml vegetable oil (I use canola oil)
• 150 g grated carrot
• 90 g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• 70 g canned crushed pineapple (drain the pineapple in a sieve first to remove most of the liquid, then weigh it)

Icing

• 250 g Philadelphia cream cheese (the lite version works just as well as the full fat, if you want it a bit healthier)
• 1/2 cup icing sugar , sifted
• 1-2 teaspoons very finely grated lemon zest , depending on your taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence of paste

Topping: dried apricots, pumpkin seeds and poppy seeds; another favourite combination is chopped pistachios and dried rose petals

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease nad line a 20cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, mixed spice a cinnamon into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix for one minute on slow speed, then scrape down the sides and mix for another two minutes on medium speed.

3. Pour into tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4. Leave to cool in the tin for half an hour before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. For the icing, in a small bowl combine the cream cheese, sifted icing sugar and lemon zest. Mix vigorously until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust the lemon and sugar to what you prefer. If the cake is not yet cool, you can put the icing in the fridge until ready to use.
6. Spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake and decorate with the dried apricots, pumpkin seeds and poppy seeds (or any other nuts and seeds of your choice). Serve with natural yogurt or on its own.