The delicious smell of baking always reminds me of lazy Sunday afternoons at home. My mum is an incredible baker - puddings, cakes, biscuits, tarts - you name it, she can bake it! For as long as I can remember, she has spoilt the family with yummy treats and I loved nothing more than helping her in the kitchen.
When I was 10 years old I entered a baking competition. I made an orange cake with orange icing (original, I know); but more surprisingly, I won! The prize was a bag full of baking goodies and R100 in cash (about £10 in those days) - how cool was I? I was ridiculously pleased with myself and so the baking bug had bitten...
Fast forward a few years and I still get great enjoyment out of baking. Luckily my husband has a sweet tooth and is only too happy to taste-test my efforts!
On Sunday I decided to try the Hummingbird Carrot Cake (with the addition of pineapple) and I think it's possibly one of the tastiest cakes I've eaten!
Cake kisses,
Nicky x
Carrot cake ingredients:
300g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
300ml sunflower oil
300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp ground cinnamon (plus extra to decorate)
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
200g carrots (grated)
100g pineapple chunks (crushed) - the recipe doesn't include this but i
100g chopped walnuts (plus extra whole to decorate)
Cream cheese icing ingredients:
400g icing sugar, sifted
80g unsalted butter (at room temp)
200g cream cheese, cold
Cake method:
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC (325ºF).
- Mix the sugar, eggs and oil together with a hand mixer.
- Gradually add the sifted dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the walnuts, pineapple chunks and grated carrots by hand until they are properly mixed.
- Pour the mixture into three greased and lined tins and smooth with a spoon (make sure you line the tins as the cake tends to stick). Bake in the pre-heated oven (170ºC) for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave to cool slightly in the tins before turning onto a wire rack.
* I only have two tins so washed and re-used one of the tins once the first batch was done.
Cream Cheese icing method:
- Beat the icing sugar and butter with a hand mixer. Add the cream cheese (in one go) and beat until completely incorporated.
- Continue beating on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Take care not to over beat as it can become runny quite quickly.
Assembling the cake:
When the cakes are cool, place one on a cake stand and spread about a quarter of the icing over it. Repeat with the other two layers. Spread the remaining icing over the sides. Decorate with chopped walnuts and a light sprinkling of cinnamon.
