Mary made this deliciously moist carrot cake from a Nigella Lawson recipe. It was chock full of ginger and walnuts.
Preheat your oven to 170°C (325°F) and grease and line a 20cm (8″) springform cake tin with baking paper. In a bowl mix 200g (7 oz) of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and ¼ of a teaspoon of fine sea salt. In another bowl beat 2 large room temperature eggs, 200ml (6¾ fl oz) of vegetable oil and 175g (6.2 oz) of soft light brown sugar until they are well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture then add 200g (7 oz) of peeled and grated carrots, mixing well. Lastly, add 100g (3½ oz) of roughly chopped walnuts and 75g (2⅔ oz) of finely chopped crystallised ginger and make sure everything is well combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the tin. While the cake is baking, beat 100g (3½ oz) of unsalted butter and 100g (3½ oz) of icing sugar together. When they are well combined, beat in 1 teaspoon of cornflour (cornstarch) then 50g (1¾ oz) of cold cream cheese. When it’s incorporated, beat in the another 50g (1¾ oz) of cream cheese. Don’t over-beat the icing or it could become too soft. Take some very fresh ginger and grate it onto a plate. Place it in a sieve and press to squeeze out 3 teaspoons of ginger juice. Beat this into the icing (frosting) mix. Cover and refrigerate. When the cake is completely cold, take the icing out of the fridge for 20 minutes to soften. It should be thick but spreadable. Release the cake from the tin and place it on a cake stand or plate. Spread the icing on top, swirling it a little, then decorate with 25g each of chopped walnut pieces and chopped crystallised ginger.
michelle picker cooks 