Easter Carrot Cake

Is there anything better than a traditional carrot cake? Packed full of walnuts, carrots and spices, it’s the perfect addition to any Easter table.

Now I’m going to tell you my life story – just kidding. We’ll just jump straight to the Easter carrot cake recipe.

You can also do the ears with rosemary or turn this recipe into carrot cake muffins. Totes up to you.

You could also decorate this with dried oranges, read how to dehydrate oranges for a tutorial.

Ingredients

Cake

• 300g of plain flour
• 4 carrots (grated)
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp bicarbonate soda
• 300mls Vegetable Oil
• 250g of brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1tp ground ginger
• ½ tsp salt
• 125 g walnuts (diced)

Cream Cheese Icing

• 250g cream cheese
• 150g butter
• 500 grams icing sugar
• For the crazy people who don’t like cream cheese icing, this buttercream recipe is good. But I DO NOT condone BUTTERCREAM ON CARROT CAKE – just FYI.

Extras

• 2 pipe cleaners
• 1 packet of speckled eggs

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170° then mix the wet ingredients (except the carrot) in a freestanding electric mixer and mix on low until combined.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and stir.
3. Keep the mixer on low and slowly spoon the dry ingredients into the wet ones. When they are all combined, stir through the grated carrots.
4. Pour into an oiled, spring form cake pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until you can insert a skewer into the center and have it come out clean.  This is usually about five minutes after you start to smell the cake.
5. While you are waiting for the cake to cool, make up your icing.
6. First, beat the cream cheese and butter until it is combined and smooth.
7. Add in your icing sugar, one spoon at a time and beat it on medium for about 3 minutes.
8. Get two pipe cleaners (or rosemary stalks, if you can find them) and fold them into ears, wrap the bottom of each in aluminium foil.
9. When your cake is cooled, cut it into two layers and pipe half the icing onto the bottom layer.
10. Pop the top layer on and pipe the remaining icing on top, use a butter knife to spread it all out and make some swirly patterns.
11. Insert the rabbit ears and decorate with speckled eggs. Happy Easter!