Carrot, Ginger and Rum Spiced Cake

When I think of Bonfire Night treats, I immediately think of toffee apples or a variation of toffee apple desserts. Something sticky with caramel and something sweet. This year I've made something a little different but still perfect for this time of the year. I had some leftover crystallised ginger from making my Crystallised Ginger and Beer Cake so I started to think about what else would go well with ginger. I had a root round my cupboard and my fridge and they provided the inspiration for this recipe. I based it on my favourite carrot cake recipe with a few amendments. I found some rum at the back of the cupboard and decided to soak the dried fruits in rum overnight. I also dug out my tropical cake tin as the rum and dried fruits felt tropical. 

The combination of ginger, carrot, dried fruits, rum and spices was heavenly. The flavours worked really well together and there's a bit of a kick to the cake. The ginger was the predominant flavour and every so often you get a burst of fruit with a hit of rum. I used my speculaas spice mix which really added a depth of flavour to this cake. The spices smelt amazing and really complemented the ginger. 

The cake was so good I made it again when I needed some 'thank you' cakes. I've been having a nightmare with Ikea delivery so I had to rely on my friend's parents to house sit. I also needed a 'thank you' cake for a colleague who very kindly carved a gorgeous cat pumpkin for me for Halloween. Plus I gave some to my neighbours who we asked to put out our bins and keep an eye on the house whilst we were away. I baked them in mini loaves this time which are ideal for gifts and they were very well received. 

 The cat pumpkin carving

I actually baked these cakes just before November so I'm really pleased that I can enter them to a number of blog challenges this month. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedge Combers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Bonfire Night. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Thank You and as I mentioned earlier these were made to thank various people for their kind deeds. It's very fortuitous that Stuart picked this theme for November!

Biscuit Barrel hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme for this month is Winter Warmers and this ginger, rum and spiced cake will definitely warm you up!

Baking with Spirit hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week. I rarely get to enter this challenge so I'm really pleased that this fits in November's challenge which is warming and alcoholic. This cake definitely fits the bill! 

Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Alida from My Little Italian Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This recipe used up leftover crystallised ginger, mixed dried fruit and the end of a bottle of rum. 

Extra Veg hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The carrots here are an extra portion of veg and it's well hidden in this cake.

Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber. The theme this month is 'In with a Bang' and this cake definitely fits the bill with the spices, ginger and rum!

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

 adding eggs and oil to the flour mixture

 the fruits plumped up nicely after being soaked in rum overnight 

 adding grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits 

  

 Add a sprinkling of icing sugar for definition and wow factor

 You can see the bit of ginger, carrot and fruits 

 Mini loaves baked as a thank you

An original recipe by bakingaddict

175g self raising wholemeal flour

150g soft dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100mls vegetable oil

2 eggs

250g carrots, peeled and grated

100g mixed dried fruit

60mls rum

100g crystallised ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon gound nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice 

OR 2 teaspoons Speculaas Spice

• Place the mixed dried fruit in a small bowl and soak in rum preferably overnight or longer if you can. 
• Preheat the oven to 170C
• In a large bowl, mix the wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
• Add in the eggs and vegetable oil and mix well.
• Stir in the grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits. 
• Pour into a tin and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• The mini loaves will take about 30-35 minutes - check with a skewer at 25 minutes. 

Carrot and Walnut Cake

It's birthday month again and as Kim's favourite cake is carrot cake, it was an easy choice. I used my tried and tested carrot cake recipe but added in some walnuts for flavour and texture. I also used them to decorate the sides and edges of the cake. Needless to say, the birthday girl was very happy and I've had a request to make this for someone else who tried it for next year! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which I am hosting this month and co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter is C for carrot cake. 

I'm also entering this to the One Ingredient Challenge hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food and co-hosted by Nazima from Franglais Kitchen. The ingredient this month is walnuts which influenced my choice of nuts as I usually prefer pecans in carrot cake but I have to say it was very tasty with the walnuts! 

And finally to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior who asks us to make recipes from scratch. 

For the carrot cake
150ml olive oil
150g muscovado sugar
3 eggs
220g wholemeal flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
zest of 1 orange
100g raisins
250g carrots, peeled and grated
100g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped plus extra to decorate (about 80g)

For the orange cream cheese frosting
300g cream cheese
50g butter
150g icing sugar
zest of 1 orange
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line 2 x 18cm sandwich tins. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Divide the mixture evenly between 2 tins (I usually weigh them to get even sized cakes)
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back from the edge and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Sandwich the cakes with frosting and spread a thick layer on top of the cake.
• Decorate with toasted, chopped walnuts on the outside and edge of cake. 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes and a review

I've been getting repeated requests for carrot cake at work so I decided to bake some but in a cupcake form instead of a layer cake. I wanted to give some away as a gift and it's much easier to present cupcakes as a gift than slices of cake. I used the recipe that I made up previously with a few minor changes. The first is a tip from my mum which was to soak the raisins in fresh orange juice overnight. The raisins were really plump and juicy and tasted great! I also added in a banana as I had one brown banana on the counter begging to be used and I think it adds to the moistness of the cake. I also omitted the nuts as one of my colleagues is allergic to walnuts. Overall, the cake got great reviews - it was moist, juicy and not too sweet. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect complement and the little carrot chocolate decorations were literally the icing on the cake. 

The cupcakes looked great after baking and decorating and were screaming to be presented in a lovely cake stand. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to use my new cake stand from dotcomgiftshop and to tell you a little about it. It's the Petit Four Botanical Cake Stand made of ceramic with a scalloped edging and glass top. It fits 3 cupcakes perfectly and will fit a small layer cake. It would also be good to display whoopie pies, cookies or mini cakes. The cake stand is surprisingly light but sturdy. The flowers on the glass stand are beautiful and I've taken pictures from different angles to give you an idea of what it looks like in 3D. 

My verdict - It's a great little cake stand to display your baked goods. It's light and easy to wash and keeps your baked goods fresh. It is petit as the name suggests so don't expect to fit a large layer cake in there! A perfect gift for the baker in your family or a treat for yourself. 

 wholemeal flour, olive oil, muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, ground mixed spice, orange, cream cheese, carrots, raisins soaked in fresh orange juice 

 adding in the ingredients to the flour mixture 

 ready to go in the oven 

 fresh from the oven 

 rows of pretty carrot cake cupcakes 

 cake stand 

 different view of the glass cover 

 yet another view of the glass cover 

 fits 3 cupcakes perfectly 

  view from the side 

 view from the top 

For the carrot cake
150ml olive oil
150g muscovado sugar
3 eggs
240g wholemeal flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
zest of 1 orange
100g raisins soaked in fresh orange juice overnight and then drained
300g carrots, peeled and grated
1 ripe banana (optional)

For the orange cream cheese frosting
300g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
zest of 1 orange
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Spread the frosting on top of the cupcake using a palette knife and finish with a chocolate carrot decoration or as desired. 

Disclaimer: I was sent the cake stand for review purposes free of charge. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting

Carrot cake is one of my colleague's favourite cake. I kept promising to make one but I couldn't find my grater so I bought one but was then too busy to make the cake. Anyway, I finally got round to it and she declared this the best carrot cake she's eaten! It's a simple mix all in one recipe which had the right balance of spice, nuts, raisins and carrots. I think the olive oil added to the flavour and smoothness of the cake - I remember using it for an apple cake previously and decided to give it a try here. The icing on the cake (literally) was the orange cream cheese frosting. 

I'm entering this to Tea Time Treats hosted this month by Kate from What Kate Baked and co-hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is layer cakes and this 2 layer cake will do nicely. 

I'm also sending it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior as this cake is made from scratch and with plenty of love. 

And finally to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Anneli from Delicieux this month. The challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This is a great recipe if you have leftover ingredients to use up as you can vary the fruit and nut mix of the recipe and if you're anything like me, you'll always have a carrot or two in the fridge!

wholemeal flour, olive oil, raisins, muscovado sugar, ground cinnamon, ground mixed spice, orange, cream cheese, pecans, carrots. 

 adding carrots, chopped roasted pecans and raisins to the mix

 ready to go in the oven

 2 layer cake

For the carrot cake

150ml olive oil

150g muscovado sugar 

3 eggs

220g wholemeal flour

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

zest of 1 orange

100g raisins

250g carrots, peeled and grated

100g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

For the orange cream cheese frosting

300g cream cheese

50g butter

150g icing sugar

zest of 1 orange

1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (depending on consistency of icing requred)

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line 2 x 18cm sandwich tins. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, sugar and eggs until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are slightly fluffy. 
• In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicabonate of soda and spices and add to the egg mixture.
• Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. 
• Divide the mixture evenly between 2 tins (I usually weigh them to get even sized cakes)
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back from the edge and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out to a wire rack to cool completely. 
• Meanwhile make the frosting by beating all the ingredients in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Sandwich the cakes with frosting and spread a thick layer on top of the cake.
• Decorate with orange zest as shown or pecan nuts. 

Carrot, courgette and pineapple garden cake

Today is one of my good friend's birthday! I managed to meet up with her last week for a celebration and of course I had to make a cake. Last year I made a raspberry ripple cake which was fraught with disasters but luckily tasted very good. This year I wanted to do something different so I decided to push the boat out and looked through my copy of The Birthday Cake Book by Fiona Cairns. I've never made anything from this book as they all look quite scary and complicated but I was feeling brave! 

When I saw her vegetable plot cake, I decided I wanted to make a garden cake as my friend loves gardening. So this cake is inspired by Fiona Cairns but I've created my own 'garden vegetable' cake recipe. I thought it was only fitting that the cake should be full of fruits and vegetables. I also used spelt flour for the extra "earthiness" and healthiness and the result was a delicious, moist and flavourful cake. It went really well with the cream cheese frosting and I'll definitely be making these again perhaps in a muffin form for breakfast/snacks. 

My friend was really pleased with the cake and said it was the best cake she's ever had!! :) I feel so touched but am also slightly worried that I won't be able to make anything as good as this for future birthdays! 

Happy Birthday Charlotte!! 

As this is a birthday and celebration cake, I'm also entering it to Tea Time Treats who are celebrating their first birthday this month and the theme is cake. Tea Time Treats is hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. 

 You need courgette, carrots, pineapple and I threw in a banana as well as I had one going brown - it adds to the moistness of the cake 

 mash the bananas, grate the carrots and courgettes and open the tin of pineapple (you can also use fresh pineapple)

 ready to go in the oven. I love the colour of the batter from the spelt flour 

 sandwich the cakes with cream cheese frosting tinted green. Cover the top and sides 

 Buy 2 boxes of matchmakers to make the fence 

 roll a small piece of green fondant into a sausage like shape with tapered ends 

 press the end of a paintbrush to create an indentation for the pea pod

 neaten the ends like this 

 roll 3 small balls of green fondant and place in the pod - these are a little big but I'm sure you get the idea! 

 Roll some orange fondant to a similar shape and use a knife to score ridges across to make it look like a carrot. I shaped the green fondant by hand and stuck it on top of the carrot 

 roll a piece of green fondant into a small ball. flatten with your palm. use a sharp knife to cut out a star shape pattern like this 

 roll a small ball of red fondant. place the green 'star' that you cut earlier. Use a paintbrush to make a hole in the centre. Please tell me they look like tomatoes!

 To assemble the cake - cover the top and sides with green cream cheese frosting. Place the matchmakers around the cake to create a fence. I made them different heights but you can keep it even. Blitz 5 oreo cookies in a food processor and spread on top of the cake. I made some 'grass' from green dessicated coconut which I sprinkled on the cake board using the same cream cheese frosting to stick it to the board. 

 I also made some potatoes by rolling small balls of brown fondant and making indentations with the end of a paintbrush 

 I bought some coconut mushrooms as I didn't have time to make my own 

 The finished cake 

An original recipe by bakingaddict

For the cake

65mls or 1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

400g brown sugar

375g spelt flour

200g carrots, grated (approximately 2 medium sized carrots)

200g courgette, grated (approximately 1 medium sized courgette)

225g tinned pineapple, drained

1 banana

120g pecan nuts, roughly chopped 

For the cream cheese frosting

225g cream cheese

113g butter

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

400g icing sugar

green food colouring

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Grease and line 2 sandwich tins.
• Mix oil, eggs, vanilla, spices, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar in an electric mixer or large bowl.
• Add in the flour and mix well.
• Add the grated vegetables, fruits and nuts and mix well.
• Divide the batter evenly between two pans (I usually weigh mine).
• Bake for approximately 50minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
• To make the frosting, beat the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract in an electric mixer until smooth.
• Slowly add in the icing sugar and continue mixing until smooth. 
• Add the green colour at the end. 

For the decorations as shown

5 oreo cookies

2 boxes of matchmakers

ready rolled fondant icing - you can either buy them coloured or colour your own using paste colours

I used green, orange, red and brown

1 paintbrush

1 small, sharp knife

dessicated coconut

green food colouring

coconut mushrooms

wafer daisies

2 red m&m's

black writing icing