Carrot and cardamom cake decorated with cream cheese frosting, carrot, borage flowers and chopped pistachio.
Ingredients
100g plain flour
50g wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
pinch of salt
50 ml olive oil
2 eggs
50g caster sugar
60g brown sugar
50g plain yoghurt
200g carrot (grated)
For the frosting
100g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
Method
Sift together the flours, cardamom, bicarbonate of soda and the salt.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs together lightly and add the oil, sugar and yoghurt and mix well (I use an electric hand beater).
Gently combine the dry ingredients with the egg mixture and then stir in the grated carrot. Pour this batter into a greased and lined 20cm round cake tin (ideally with a loose bottom).
Cook in a moderate oven (180 deg C) for about 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake. When the cake is not quite cooked it will sing to you - this is the bubbles of air in the cake bursting. When this singing is much quieter the cake is cooked.
Leave the cake in its tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting beat up the cream cheese with the icing sugar until really smooth and then spread on the top of the cake allowing some to drizzle over the sides. decorate with grated carrot, edible flowers and some chopped pistachios if you have some.
This recipe is adapted from a carrot and cardamom cake in the book ‘Grow, Cook, Nourish’ by Darina Allen. We prefer a cream cheese frosting, and substituting some of the plain flour for wholemeal flour and reducing the sugar slightly makes this a healthier cake with a little more fibre - but it’s still delicious!