Being a home baker has it’s many advantages. One of them being that when you have not had time or perhaps don’t know what to get for a special occasion, cake is the best way to say it all.
I baked this Carrot Cake tray bake on Mother’s day and the best thing of all, there was plenty to go round for all the other mothers I wanted to wish!
I first noticed this recipe in a newspaper and adapted it (and double the quantity) to fit my go-to 12 x 15 inch tray.
The combination of the crunchy walnuts, sweet, grated carrots and the lightly spiced cinnamon , nutmeg and fresh orange zesty cake, all topped off with a rich buttery cream cheese frosting is the perfect way to say, Happy Mother’s day !
If that wasn’t enough, the cake is then adorned with whole, crunchy walnut halves for that extra nutty flavour >>>
From testing out lots of carrot cake recipes, I have found that the secret is preparation and room temperature ingredients as there are lots of flavourings and ingredients in the cake. The last thing you want to do is go hunting for the cinnamon powder at the back of the cupboard whilst attempting to zest your orange and grate your carrots all at the same time!
Top Tip – Note steps 3 and 4 of the method. It is important to add your carrots, raisins and walnuts after you have added your flour and flavourings as it is more difficult to spot any lumps you may have in your batter.
I have laid out the ingredients in a particular way to make it as efficient as possible to prep. Here they are:
Ingredients:
300g Soft Butter
300g Soft Brown Sugar
6 Eggs
400g of Sifted Self-Raising Flour
2 Teaspoons of Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Teaspoon of Salt
2 Tablespoons of grated Orange Zest
2 Teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg
200g of Raisins (I soak these in a little hot water to get them plumped up but this is optional)
500g of Peeled and Grated Carrots
250g Chopped or Whole Walnuts (Depending on your preference)
The Cream Cheese Frosting Topping:
250g Soft and Room Temperature Cream Cheese
100g Soft and Room Temperature Butter
450g Sifted Icing Sugar
2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon of Grated Orange Zest (Optional)
100g of Walnut Halves to adorn the cake with
This does seem like a lot of ingredients for just one cake; however it does all come together in the end and this is a large tray that makes up to 24 large squares.
I am happy to answer any questions about substituting any ingredients according to what you have already in your kitchen – Click here to go back to Home Page to submit a contact form
Method:
1) Once all the ingredients have been prepped and laid out, you can then start to preheat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius and grease/line your baking tray
2) Start by creaming the butter and soft light brown sugar together using an electric whisk. Then add each egg, one at a time till it is all combined. (The mixture may split at this time according to the temperature of your ingredients and the whisk speed, however do not worry as the flour is coming to the rescue)
3) Add in your sifted self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, orange zest, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and fold this in.
4) Once this has all been combined, you can then add in the raisins, carrots and chopped/whole walnuts. If you had added this at step 3, it would have been difficult to spot any lumps in the cake batter you may have had.
5) Once the batter has all been combined, pour the mixture in your greased lined tray or baking tin and bake for around 20-25 mins (depending on the tin and surface area of the cake) or until golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean.
6) For the topping, whisk together the cream cheese and butter till it is combined. Add your vanilla extract and orange zest (if you opted to use it).
7) Add the icing sugar a spoonful at a time, otherwise your kitchen will end up looking like a Winter Wonderland! (Trust me..)
8) Once the cake is warm to touch, spread over the icing and adorn the tray with whole or halved walnut pieces
9) Cut into 24 squares and serve.
These are my other tray-bake recipes too: