At our last quilting weekend Karen brought a lovely cake for our afternoon tea.
Here is the recipe as promised...
Carrot Cake (GF and other adaptations by Karen)
2 cups plain flour (if using gluten-free, add ½ tsp xanthan or guar gum, or 1 tbsp golden syrup)
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon (plus ½ tsp each of ground ginger, five-spice powder, cardamom, or to taste)
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup chopped walnuts
250 gm tin pineapple (crushed or chopped; drained)
Frosting
250 gm butter, softened
250 gm cream cheese
c. 250 gm icing sugar, sifted (add more to make stiffer, sweeter frosting)
1 tsp vanilla essence
Sift flour, baking powder and soda, spices and salt.
Beat eggs well in a separate large bowl. Add sugar and oil gradually, continuing to beat.
Fold in carrots, nuts and pineapple gradually, mixing well after each addition.
Fold in flour mixture gradually. (If using g/f flour, add a little liquid, e.g. from the pineapple tin, if the mix is too stiff.)
Divide mixture between two rectangular slice tins, lined with baking paper.
Bake at 180ÂșC for 15-30 minutes depending on your oven. They are cooked when a skewer in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to sit in the pans for 15 minutes, then put on wire racks to cool, covered with a tea towel.
Frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese together, adding icing sugar gradually and vanilla.
Use the frosting either on top of the cakes or as a middle layer between the two.
Tip: Unless there will be a lot of hungry mouths, only ice one of the cakes (or cut it in half and sandwich the halves with the frosting) and freeze the other cake (without any frosting) for later use.
After freezing, defrost then heat in a microwave oven for about 1 minute before adding frosting.
Karen Wilson
September 2025
Based on a recipe from Priscilla Roth in The Independent newspaper, London, c. 1988
