Carrot cake recipe

I am only buying carrots when 1kg costs $1. I may sound like a cheapskate/ stingy person but I prefer to think of it as a thrifty behaviour. Imagine buying 1kg of carrots for $2 just to find out that the next store sells it for only $1 and you could have used that extra dollar to pay for your parking ticket or to even buy yourself a homebrand loaf of bread! Having said that, carrots usually last for a couple of weeks in the fridge (they do not spoil overnight unless if you bought them from a crooked shop keeper..which is uncommon in Adelaide!).

So with half a bag of carrots lying in my fridge and a farewell morning tea happening, I decided to play with this recipe from David Lebovitz. I have made this cake before but this time, I have some cream cheese to make a finger licking good frosting to go with it:)

Cake ingredients:
4 eggs
60ml vegetable oil
180ml melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
280g plain flour
380g sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg and cloves
1 tsp salt
4 cups grated carrots
60g raisins

Cream cheese frosting ingredients:
450g cream cheese at room temperature
110g butter, at room temperature
300g icing sugar
A drop of vanilla extract

1. Beat eggs until it becomes pale and frothy, then slowly drizzle in the oil and melted butter.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together.
3. After ensuring that the egg mixture is well combined, add vanilla extract and sugar. Continue to beat. Mix in carrots and raisins, followed by the spices. Make sure you do this gradually to evenly coat the carrots and raisins.
4. Line your baking pan and heat oven to 150C.
5. Fold in cake batter to the flour component before pouring into baking pans. Bake at 150C until set (about 40 minutes for me).
6. Beat cream cheese, butter and icing until smooth before adding vanilla. Chill.
7. Once the cake is done baking, allow to cool before spreading your frosting. Enjoy!

The cake was very moist and a little dense so enjoy in smaller quantities:) Best served chilled, in my opinion!

On the flip side, here are a few snapshots of what I have been having for lunch whilst at work. Nothing too fancy as I am still trying to get my head around food styling. Not as easy as it looks!

BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomatoes) sandwich. Delicious. Mind you, I had this for 4 consecutive days!

Bolognese pasta topped with parsley and cheese. I tried pulling a Jamie Oliver stunt. Epic fail as not as pretty lol.