Welcome to another bank holiday weekend! Long weekends are made for baking. Why not try this carrot and orange loaf cake?
It’s incredibly easy to make, and has quite an unusual, complex flavour – not too sweet, zingy thanks to the citrus, and with an earthy note from the carrots. Perfect with a cup of tea!
Carrot and orange loaf cake
Ingredients
- 120g light soft brown sugar
- 120ml sunflower oil
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100g coarsely grated carrot
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- 120g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- For the icing: 30g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- To decorate: Half an orange
- 1tsp icing sugar (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4.
- Thoroughly grease a 2lb (21 x 11cm) loaf tin.
- Put the sugar, sunflower oil, beaten eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl and mix together using a wooden spoon. Add the grated carrot and orange zest.
- In a separate bowl, sift the self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon together.
- Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour into the greased tin and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
- While the cake is in the oven, prepare the icing by stirring the icing sugar and orange juice together until smooth.
- To prepare the orange decoration, cut four or five thin slices from the half orange and carefully remove the skin from each slice – it should peel off fairly easily, although you might need a little help from a paring knife.
- When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to rest for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. While the cake it still warm, drizzle all over with the orange icing, then immediately place the orange slices on top.
- Sift over a little icing sugar before serving if you like.
I love it! And am proud to be the some-time sampler of your culinary creations.
Sam
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