carrot cake

carrot cake is one of my all-time favourite treats. i'm not a chocolate lover and don't like things that are too too sweet. so carrot cake is perfect. and i adore the rich moist texture. this a great recipe as it is very straight-forward and not fiddly. carrot cake is the ultimate comfort dessert. i actually wanted to make a chocolate birthday cake but didn't have any chocolate or the right ingredients in the house so went for carrot cake instead.  
i realise my kids are growing up - slowly but surely - and i want to grasp these moments with them and not let them go. they are so utterly adorable and this time will pass and they will become teenagers. i want to savour and play and laugh and enjoy and be more patient. rushing the kids in to the car this morning little Mr Z told me i shouldn't hurry him because he was just looking at something. i apologised for being impatient and told him he could tell me to be patient when i'm rushing him, because his pace of life is slow and i'm naturally impatient. i desperately want to be a more patient mummy and to savour and savour and savour these precious days that will pass. today we've been on our own - me, Little Mr Z and Little Miss M - i have loved it - just being us - and having time to be together and savour. i did sob today while Little Miss M screeched herself to sleep at naptime - i felt so worn-down and distressed from being patient with her screeching all morning! i also swore never to take her to the supermarket again - online grocery shopping for us! ants, ants, i'm seeing ants everywhere - yuk - we've come back from holiday to ants in the house.

deelicious carrot cake


175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

200g brown sugar

150ml sunflower oil

2 eggs

200g grated carrot

75g chopped pecans

For the icing

200g soft cream cheese

100g unsalted butter, softened

125g icing sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 tsp juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-assisted 160C)/350F/gas mark 4, and grease a round cake tin. 

2. Mix the flour, baking powder and spices in a bowl. 

3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the soft brown sugar with the oil and beat with the eggs until smooth. 

4. Stir in the carrots and pecans, then fold through the sifted dry ingredients.

5. Pour the mix in to the tin and bake for about 30 minutes, until a skewer comes out only just clean. 

6. Cool in the tin. 

7. Beat the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, zest and juice until smooth and spread over the top and sides of the cake.

we decorated with sprinkles and little silver balls and tried to find some blossoms on our way to my lovely sister-in-law's birthday dinner. however we almost drove illegally in to a fire station to pull blossoms from a tree where the owner was gardening. we had to abandon the blossom idea.