Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (Incl. recipe)

My parents came down this weekend and we took them out for brunch as an early birthday treat for my Mums birthday. I also made her a carrot cake which after brunch and then a walk down the seafront, we came back and ate a slice of with a cup of tea. I used a Mary Berry recipe for the sponge and for the icing a recipe from the BBC Good Food website.

Recipe:

For the sponge:
250ml sunflower oil
4 large eggs
225g light muscovado sugar
200g peeled and grated carrot
300g self-raising flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground ginger
75g walnuts, shelled and chopped

For the icing:
100g softened butter
300g full fat cream cheese or mascarpone cheese (I used Philadelphia)
100g icing sugar, sifted
A couple of drops of vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan oven/350°F/Gas 4
2. Grease and line two 8 inch round tins and set aside
3. Mix the oil, eggs and sugar in a bowl and mix until well combined
4. Fold in the grated carrot
5. Sift the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and ginger into the mixture, and mix until well combined.
6. Mix in the walnuts
7. Place the cakes in the oven and bake for approx. 25-30 minutes
8. Once baked (check this by inserting a cake tester or knife into the middle of the cakes and checking they come out clean), leave in the tins to cool for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wiring rack to cool completely
9. Once the cakes are cooled, beat the butter until very soft (this is very important! If the butter is not soft enough it will not combine with the cream cheese. I have thrown away two batches because I didn't do this)
10. Mix in the cream cheese a little at a time until fully incorporated.
11. Sift in the icing sugar and combine slowly. Be careful not over mix as this runs the risk of the icing becoming too runny.
12. Place the first layer of the cake (flat side down) on to a board or cake stand and 'glue' the base to the board/stand with a little of the icing so it doesn't slide about
13. If your sponge is raised in the middle and you want it flat, carve off the top with a bread knife.
14. Add some of the icing to the middle of the base cake and smooth out to the sides with the back of a spoon or a spatula
15. Repeat the carving process if necessary on the second cake half, and place on top of the icing so the flat side is upwards. This will give a flatter area to work on.
16. Repeat the icing process as above and sprinkle on walnuts.

Enjoy with a hot cuppa!
Happy Baking.

Stop The World Cafe

Last year I went to a lovely cafe in Leigh on Sea in Essex called 'Stop The World Cafe'. I had heard lots of rave reviews about it and I love to eat, so I went with a few of my girls for my birthday.

Inside the cafe the walls are full of old vintage artwork and the tea selection is written above your heads on a blackboard. The amount of artwork in the cafe kept us all entertained even before we had our food in front of us.

The selection of food and specials is great and of course at the front of the cafe there are cakes. Massive cakes. Cakes large enough to be a lunch serving in itself for some people. Of course though, being a food lover, I had lunch then a cake. Anything else would have just been rude. I had a vegetarian breakfast (even though I'm not a vege) of bubble and squeak, egg, spinach and mushroom. It was beautiful! The best vege breakfast I certainly have ever had.

Of course tea was also in order and rather than a usual pot of tea it came as tea leaves and a strainer *que my excitement!!*

Cake time was quite a decision. So many yummy large cakes to choose from. It actually caused an anxious moment of what if choose the wrong one? I went for the red velvet swiss roll with cream cheese icing and it did not disappoint. Some of the other girls chose chocolate cake, bakewell tart and a lemon meringue Pie. We also had a hot chocolate with our cake, indulgence was the word of the day!

I definitely want to go back to Stop The World Cafe. Next time I'd like to take my other half Paul or our parents. Why not stop by if you are in the area. I must warn you though that the cafe is so popular that you need to go in and give them your mobile number and they will call you when a table is free. It is worth the wait!