There are lots of healthier ways to use our flavourful Channel Farm Carrots but you can’t beat a slice of carrot cake for a delicious afternoon treat! The water content of carrots keeps the cake wonderfully moist.

Ingredients:

• 1 orange – zest & juice
• 50g sultanas
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 2 eggs
• 140g soft light brown sugar
• 85g wholemeal self-raising flour
• 85g self raising flour
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 2tsp ground mixed spice
• 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 140g carrots, coarsely grated
• 50g walnuts & extra to decorate

For the icing:

• 200g soft cheese
• 50g butter, softened
• 85g icing sugar

Method

1. If you have time to do it the night before, put the orange zest and juice in a bowl with the sultanas. If you don’t have time, on the day simply stir the zest, juice and sultanas together and microwave on Medium for 1-2 mins.
2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and grease and line the base and sides of a 2lb loaf tin. Whisk together the oil and eggs. Mix together the sugar, flours, mixed spice, cinnamon and bicarb in your largest mixing bowl. Add the sultanas with any juice and zest left in the bowl, grated carrot, walnuts and whisked egg mixture into the dry ingredients, then thoroughly mix with a wooden spoon. Tip into the loaf tin and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hr, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin.
3. Once cool, remove from the tin and make the icing. With an electric whisk, beat together the soft cheese, butter, icing sugar and cinnamon until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake and decorate with walnut halves.