Carrot Cake Recipe

My grandfather always tells me there is something to learn from everyone we will come across in our lives. Little did I know that there would be two wonderful ladies, a Turkish and a Kazakh, in my life who would teach me how to bake. They taught me when I was their flatmate in the student dorm in Munich. Strangely, until before this cake, I baked for many people except these two. This year I made it a point to bake for my Kazakh friend somehow, especially after she once mentioned having a carrot cake for her birthday. With COVID-19 regulations in place and her birthday falling on a working day, I had to figure a way out to pull this off. And as the saying goes, “where there is a will, there is a way”, I did pull it off. This cake is an ode to one of my Gurus.

If my Turkish friend is reading this, I would like to tell her, “Yes, your turn will come one day too. Promise!”

Summary

Prep Time: 45min
Bake Time: 45min
Total Time: 1h30min
Servings: 8
Cal per serving: 760 calories

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1. 400g flour
2. 300ml sunflower oil
3. 100g brown sugar
4. 75g white sugar
5. 2 tsp baking soda
6. 300g grated carrots
7. 4 large-sized eggs
8. 100g raisins (optional)
9. 16g orange zest (optional)
10. 2 tsp cinnamon powder
11. 1 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)
12. 1 tsp ginger powder (optional)
13. 1 tsp cardamom powder (optional)

For the frosting:

1. 70g butter
2. 175g cream cheese
3. 40g powdered sugar
4. 8g bourbon vanilla sugar

Preparation:

For the cake:

1. Whisk the sugar, oil and eggs in a bowl for 4-5 minutes. Check if the sugar has dissolved completely. Continue for some more time if it has not.
2. Mix all the other remaining dry ingredients such as the flour, the spices, the orange zest and the baking soda together.
3. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the mix from step 1.
4. To the mix from step 3, add the grated carrots and raisins.
5. Transfer all the mix to the tin and bake it at 170 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes or until done. To check if the cake is done, use a toothpick or a spaghetti and poke it to different parts of the cake, if it comes out clean, you can now take it out.

For the frosting:

1. Add the butter and use the mixer to mix it for 2-3 minutes.
2. After 2-3 minutes, add the cream cheese and continue mixing for another minute or two on medium speed.
3. Finally, add the bourbon vanilla sugar and powdered sugar and continue mixing for another 2-3 minutes.
4. It should look rich and creamy. Let it settle for 20-30 minutes in the fridge if you want it to be a bit more thick.
5. Finally, add the cream cheese frosting to the cake, and decorate with some crushed nuts, and real carrots as shown in the picture.