A Sensibly Sized Carrot Cake

Or, as we like to say, 'carrot cake, without the commitment!' 😄 All too often carrot cake recipes are just enormous - baked in a 28 or 30cm tin that leaves you still eating cream cheese icing a week later. This gorgeous little version is baked in a petite 18cm (7") square tin instead: warmly spiced, generously iced and just the right size for afternoon tea with friends, with perhaps a smidge left over for tomorrow's coffee. 🍰

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup neutral oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 275g brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 200g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger or mixed spice
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 1 small tin crushed pineapple, very well drained
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
• Zest of ½ an orange, optional

Icing:

• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 50g butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 180g icing sugar, sifted
• Tiny pinch salt (optional)

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 170°C fan bake. Grease and line an 18cm square cake tin.
2. Whisk together the oil, brown sugar and vanilla until glossy and well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream, whisking well after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices.
4. Fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet mixture. Once the flour has almost disappeared, fold through the carrot, pineapple, nuts and orange zest if using. Don't overmix - carrot cake likes a light hand. It will be a very wet mixture.
5. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top lightly.
6. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the centre springs back lightly and a skewer comes out clean. Every oven is different, so start checking a little earlier if yours runs hot - as mine does.
7. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15–20 minutes before lifting onto a rack to cool completely.
8. For the icing, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy, then add the vanilla and icing sugar. Spread generously over the cooled cake in thick swoops.

A few Milly's Notes:

• Omit the sour cream and use 3/4 cup oil, and swap the icing for a glaze to make it dairy free.
• Toasting the nuts first makes a big difference.
• This cake keeps beautifully for several days.
• If you'd like an even more luxurious version, add the orange zest and use pecans.
• The icing should look generous and relaxed rather than perfectly smooth.

Makes one seriously sensational little carrot cake - just the thing with a cup of coffee.