We were looking for that perfect carrot cake recipe and settled for a Mary Berry and Ottolenghi Hybrid. It’s light and fluffy, with a hint of coconut just like Ottolenghi’s, yet rich and fruity, just like Mary’s. The cream cheese icing that has a honey flavour in it adds yet another indulgence level to this wonderful cake.
Carrot cake was always one of my favourites when I worked in one of Ottolenghi’s delis in London. It was less dense, fluffier than your usual carrot cake, generously studded with walnuts and always with a good dollop of honey flavoured cream cheese icing. There was only one thing missing for me – dried fruit! Whilst Ottolenghi’s cake has a genius addition of desiccated coconut, I thought that adding a few sultanas or raisins could only make the cake better. And so it did!
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How to Make a Carrot Cake with Coconut, Pecans and Sultanas?
Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan. Grease an 18cm (7in) springform cake tin with butter. Line the base with a circle of baking parchment (we recommend Bacofoil – nothing sticks to it, and it lasts forever!)
Top & tale, peel and coarsely grate carrots. Don’t worry if you have a little more or a little less of the carrot, it won’t make that much difference.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the whole egg with the egg yolk.
Put the sunflower oil and caster sugar in a deep large bowl. Using an electric mixer beat for about a minute, then slowly add the beaten egg.
Mix in the flour mixture, pecans, coconut and sultanas, but don’t over mix. Finally, fold in the grated carrots.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt with a clean dry electric whisk until firm peaks form.
Carefully fold the egg whites into the cake mixture. Don’t overmix – streaks of white in the mixture are okay.
Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour (it can take 5-10 minutes longer. If you’re using a larger cake tin, reduce the amount of cooking as your cake mixture will be spread thinner). A skewer inserted in the centre should come out dry.
Let the cake cool completely and then remove it from the tin.
To make the icing, beat the soft butter, icing sugar and honey in the mixer until light and airy. Gradually add the room temperature cream cheese whilst still beating.
Cut the cooled cake in two circles (there’s a handy tool for that too). Spread 1/3 of the cream cheese icing on the first half and stack the second half on top. Spread the remaining icing in waves on top of the cake and decorate with pecans.
If you’re looking for other traditional cake recipes with just a bit of a twist, have a look at the recipes below:
- Triple Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Sourdough Lime Drizzle Cake
- Gluten-Free Chocolate & Pear Almond Cake
Carrot Cake with Coconut, Pecans and Sultanas
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
- 160 g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 egg large
- 1 egg yolk large
- 2 egg whites large
- 200 g sunflower oil
- 200 g caster sugar
- 50 g pecans roughly chopped
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 40 g sultanas
- 150 g carrot coarsely grated
- a pinch of salt
For the Icing:
- 175 g cream cheese at room temperature
- 70 g unsalted butter
- 35 g icing sugar
- 25 g honey
- pecans to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C Fan.
- Grease an 18cm (7in) springform cake tin with butter. Line the base with a circle of baking parchment.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
- Lightly whisk the whole egg with the egg yolk.
- Put the sunflower oil and caster sugar in a deep large bowl. Using an electric mixer beat for about a minute, then slowly add the beaten egg.
- Mix in the flour mixture, pecans, coconut and sultanas. Don’t over mix. Finally, fold in the carrots.
- Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt with a clean dry electric whisk until firm peaks form.
- Carefully fold the egg whites into the cake mixture. Don't overmix – streaks of white in the mixture are okay.
- Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour (it can take 5-10 minutes longer. If you're using a larger cake tin, reduce the amount of cooking as your cake mixture will be spread thinner). A skewer inserted in the centre should come out dry.
- Let the cake cool completely and then remove from the tin.
- To make the icing, beat the soft butter, icing sugar and honey in the mixer until light and airy. Gradually add the room temperature cream cheese whilst still beating.
- Cut the cooled cake in two circles. Spread 1/3 of the cream cheese icing on the first half and stack the second half on top. Spread the remaining icing in waves on top of the cake and decorate with pecans.
Nutrition
