Ermmm the best carrot cake in the world!

I went to a friend’s wedding recently and I was asked, with a bunch of other people, to make a cake or two to bring to the party in the evening. The venue provided the barbeque and then everyone else bought cakes to share – lovely idea! So I set about making two cakes; a chocolate fudge cake and a carrot cake. Before I went I assumed the chocolate fudge would go down the best. As it turns out, the carrot cake was the runaway hit…and I’ve had several requests for the recipe. Somebody even said it was the best cake they’d ever tasted! That’s right. So here you go people. Oh...it’s taken from ‘Frame-by-Frame baking’...sadly can't take credit myself!

For the cake

6 fl oz sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing

175g/6oz light muscovado sugar

3 eggs

175g/6oz grated carrot

85g/3oz sultanas

55g/2oz walnut pieces, broken up if whole

Grated rind of 1 orange

175g/6oz self-raising flour

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

For the icing

200g/7oz cream cheese

100g/3 ½ oz icing sugar

2tsp orange juice

To decorate

Strips of orange zest

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm/9 inch square cake tin (though I used a round one and it worked just as well).

1. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar and eggs. Stir in the grated carrots, sultanas, walnut pieces and orange rind.
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg together into the bowl and mix evenly into the carrot mixture.
3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes, until well risen and firm to the touch.
4. Cook the cake in the tin for at least 5 minutes, then turn out to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. To make the icing, combine the cheese, icing sugar and orange juice in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake and swirl with a palette knife.
6. Sprinkle with strips of orange zest and serve!