“If you love carrot cake, you’ll adore this chai-spiced version, with warming tea and fragrant cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. ”
Ingredients
- 250 ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
- 4 large carrots
- 1 large lemon
- 100 g currants , or sultanas
- 100 g pecans
- 280 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground anise
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons candied ginger in syrup
- 1 black tea bag
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 200 g caster sugar
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 30 g flaked coconut
- BUTTERCREAM
- 200 g unsalted butter , (at room temperature)
- 200 g cream cheese
- 125 g icing sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm x 30cm traybake tin.
- Peel and grate the carrots into a large bowl, then grate in the lemon zest. Mix in the currants, then roughly chop and add the pecans.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, all the spices and ½ a teaspoon of sea salt. Dice and add the ginger, then split open the tea bag, pour in the leaves, and mix well.
- Whisk the eggs in a mixing jug, then mix in both sugars and the vegetable oil. Pour over the carrots, give it a good stir, then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the oven for 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, for the buttercream, place the butter in the bowl of a free-standing mixer and beat for about 5 minutes, or until creamy.
- Add the cream cheese and beat until just combined. Next, add the icing sugar and beat again until smooth – don’t overmix it, or your icing will be runny! Chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, then spoon over the cake and spread out evenly.
- Toast the coconut in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3 minutes, or until lightly golden, tossing occasionally. Scatter over the iced cake, then slice up and enjoy!
Source: Jamie Oliver
