Aussieland – Carrot Cake

As I said since the first episode of Aussieland sometimes I can post in English and this is the case because the recipe was asked by Gerry. I did the cake yesterday as a present for Ialla’s mates and it was a real success. The starting point for the recipe is the one written inside MasterChef (Issue 3, page 110) but I changed it a lot and I also didn’t make the cheese icing following Cristian’s request 🙂

Ingredients

150ml extra virgin olive oil

150ml grape seed oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

330g dark brown sugar

3 carrots, peeled, finely chopped

90g walnuts, finely chopped

90g almonds, finely chopped

300g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

a bit of cinnamon

a bit of cumin

a bit of salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180C.

Combine oils and vanilla extract in a jug.

Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes than reduce the speed to low and add the oil mixture till emulsified.

In a bowl put carrots, walnuts, almonds, and the mix you have prepared with the mixer. Don’t fold but sift over  flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, a bit of salt, a bit of cinnamon and a bit of cumin, then, using a large spoon, fold in until just combined.

Cover the inside of a cake pan with baking paper and spoon batter the mix inside it, then bake for almost 60 minutes on the bottom shelf of the oven. Check after 45 minutes and if the cake is over-browning cover it with baking paper.

Check if the cake is ready using a skewer inserted into the centre, it has to come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, cool completely in the pan, then turn out onto a plate.