Here’s an easy cake that’s moist and packed with lots of lovely flavours and textures.

Makes: I cut mine into 25 smallish pieces so that I could share it after church. 20 medium pieces would also be a good option for sharing. If that’s no good for you, then go BIG.

Time: Hands on & prep: 30 min. Baking: 40 – 50 min. Topping/filling and decorating: 25 – 30 min (It could be less than this; I tend to faff around quite a lot: do the washing up as I go along, take photos etcetera.)

Level: Quite straight forward

Need: 20cm/8” square tin

Ingredients

2 eggs
75g/2½oz Demerara sugar (or use all light brown)
100g/3½oz soft light brown sugar
200ml/7fl oz sunflower oil (or walnut oil or a mixture)
200g/7oz grated carrots
225g/8oz wholemeal flour
Pinch of salt
1½ tsp bicarb-soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground ginger
100g/3½oz chopped walnuts
100g/3½oz chopped stem ginger

Filling/Topping

300g/10oz Mascarpone or full fat cream cheese (i.e. Philadelphia Original)
100g/3½oz softened butter
100g/3½oz icing sugar
20ml/¾fl oz stem ginger syrup

Optional decoration

50g/1¾oz stem ginger, very finely sliced
20 – 25 walnut halves

Method

1. Grease and line the tin. Turn the oven on to reach 190°C / fan 170°C / 375°F / Gas mark 5. Wash and grate the carrots, cover and set aside. Chop the walnuts & stem ginger.

2. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl then mix in the sugars and the oil.

3. Add the grated carrots then sift in the flour, salt, bicarb-soda and ground spices.

4. Stir in the walnut pieces and chopped stem ginger. Mix everything together well.

5. Level the mixture by tapping the tin on a work surface firmly a couple of times then bake for 40 – 50 min – until the cake has risen well, is firm but springy to the touch and slightly pulling away from the sides of the tin. Or use a cocktail stick to test, by inserting it into the middle. If it comes out dry, the cake has cooked.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Remove and cut when ready.

7. For the filling and/or topping, beat the mascarpone and butter together then sift in the icing sugar and mix. Add some of the syrup, taking care not to allow the mixture to become too runny.

I dampen the tin then insert cut parchment (no grease needed)

8A. If you intend filling the cake, cut it in half horizontally and add some or all of the filling before reassembling the cake. Dust the top with icing sugar, maybe.

8B. If you intend filling and topping the cake, do as above, but save enough of the mixture to cover the top. (You may need to make extra) Then add the walnut pieces and stem ginger slices.

8C. If you only intend topping the cake with the mixture, without cutting it in half then just spread, pipe or “dollop” the filling on top. Maybe swirl it with a fork then add the walnuts and stem ginger, as above.

NB1 As you can see, I went for option 8C, which was fine. The cake was so wonderfully moist that it would probably have been very messy cutting it in half horizontally, but feel free to give it a go.

NB2 I cut my “block” of baked cake before adding the topping. I then located the cuts and cut through again. I had a vague feeling that this might be a good idea, but in the end it probably wasn’t. It’s up to you, but next time I’ll put the topping on then cut it into pieces.

I do hope you have a go at this tasty but easy cake. If you do, then please let me know how it goes via the contact page. Have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury. Below are a few that you might want to try:

Golden Chocolate Cake