Mini Carrot Cakes

Everybody loves Raymond? Everybody loves carrot cake. These gems are light and dairy-free (discounting the topping) and healthy enough to be a gym snack. Well, not quite. But nearly.







Fresh from the oven

The cakes were lining two by two hurrah, hurrah

CARROT CAKE
one and a half medium-sized carrots, peeled and grated

caster sugar

rapeseed oil

olive oil

raisins (soaked overnight in whisky)

orange zest

orange juice

plain flour

baking powder

 

CREAM CHEESE ICING
cream cheese

unsalted butter, softened (optional)

icing sugar

orange zest

 





One half with filling, the other half not...
 



Mix together the oil, sugar, flour and baking powder.

Once fully combined, add the orange juice, zest and raisins.

Fold in the grated carrots.

Pour into a greased baking tins, and cook at 180C for 35 minutes, or until a skewer can be inserted cleanly.

When baked, leave to cool in their tins for 5-10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cakes get to room temperature, cut them in half using a serrated knife.

 



Assembled

For the topping, if you're using butter, cream it with the sugar first, then add the orange zest and cream cheese.

If not using butter, gently fold the sugar and orange zest into the cream cheese.

 

Fill the cakes with the topping when they completely cool down - you don't want the icing to melt!

Serve with a cup of tea.







All together now...say cheese!







Pimms Cake

For those of you who don't want to believe that summer is pretty much over, use your last drops of pimms to get yourself back into the summer 2013 mood.

Cake #1

PIMMS CAKE420g self-raising flour
400g sugar (I used a mixture of demerara and soft brown sugar)
two teaspoons of baking powder
120g unsalted butter, softened
200ml milk
strawberries, hulled and quartered
3 shots of Pimms

CREAM CHEEDE ICING250g cream cheese
40g unsalted butter, room temperature
350g icing sugar
one grapefruit, zest and juice

Cake #2

 

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Butter two cake tins, and line the bases (this is necessary because the syrawberries will stick).
Arrange the strawberries throughout the tins.
Mix all the dry ingredients together with the butter. When you get a crumble-like mixture, add the milk whilst continually beating.
When you have a batter, add the Pimms and completely stir.
Pour the cake mixture over the strawberries.
Put in the oven and turn the temperature down to 170C.
Check the cakes after 35 minutes, and as a general guide, take them out of the oven after 50 minutes.
Leave the cakes in their tins for 10 minutes, and then turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Cream the butter, sugar and grapefruit zest.
Add the grapefruit juice to the butter cream, and then the cream cheese.
Thoroughly mix, but be aware that too much mixing results in a flat liquid.
If your icing becomes too liquidy, you can add icing sugar of corn flour, but you don't want an icing which is too sweet or bland.