Honey and Carrot Cake

The other day the hubby requested a carrot cake. However I was missing the ingredients for the topping which is a must have for a traditional carrot cake! I started looking through my cook books to find a different style of carrot cake.

As I was flicking through Rosemary Schrager's Bakes, Cakes and Puddings book I found a carrot cake that I had the ingredients for! But the original recipe was missing one of my favourite ingredients in carrot cake, it contained no orange. I was also missing the ingredients for the suggested mascarpone icing but the hubby suggested white chocolate which was perfect for this cake!

I changed the recipe to taste and this is what I got...

Honey and Carrot Cake

Ingredients

200g clear honey

50g golden caster sugar

160g dates, chopped

150g carrots, finely grated

Zest and juice of 1 orange/clementine

1tsp ground nutmeg

2tsp cinnamon

100g butter

180mls water

225g plain flour

25g ground almonds

75g flaked almonds

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 eggs

150g good quality white chocolate

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C

1 - Place the honey, golden cater sugar, butter, dates, carrot, orange zest, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon and water in a pan and heat on a medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved

2 - Turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes

3 - Remove from the heat and leave until lukewarm

4 - Combine together the plain flour, ground almonds, flaked almonds and bicarbonate of soda

5 - Beat the eggs and add to the warm honey mixture

6 - Add the flour mixture and stir until all of the ingredients are evenly combined together

7 - Place the cake mixture in a greased and lined cake tin

8 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 50 minutes or until firm to the touch

9 - Leave to cool in the tin for 10 - 15 minutes before removing and leaving to cool completely on a cooling rack

10 - Once the cake has completely cooled melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water

11 - Gently pour on the melted chocolate and spread over the top of the cake

This cake can be enjoyed when the chocolate is still soft and warm as a dessert. It is also delicious the following day when the chocolate has hardened and is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea!

The honey makes this a soft, moist cake which, if kept in an air tight container, will stay deliciously moist for a few days after baking!

Enjoy x