Easy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

• 60 g unsalted butter (2 oz / ¼ cup), softened
• 60 g cream cheese (2 oz / ¼ cup), softened
• 1 ½ cups icing sugar / powdered sugar (195 g), sifted
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice (40 mL)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 g)
• ¾ cup canola oil (188 mL)
• ½ cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (120 g)
• ½ cup brown sugar (110 g), packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 g)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups grated carrots (260 g / approx. 4-5 large)
• 1 ½ cups plain flour / all-purpose flour (225 g)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (16 g)
• 1 teaspoon salt (6 g)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (5 g)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1 Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F (fan/convection) or 180°C / 355°F (standard). Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin with baking paper.
2. 2 In a large mixing bowl, stir together oil, sugars, vanilla essence, eggs and grated carrot.
3. 3 Sift over the plain flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir together until just combined.
4. 4 Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. 5 In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat together the butter and cream cheese on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
6. 6 Add the sifted icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla essence. Beat for another 3-4 minutes on high speed until fluffy, thick and pale. If your frosting is too thick, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
7. 7 Spread evenly over the top of the cooled cake. The frosting will continue to firm up over the next couple of hours.

NUTRITION

Calories: 570kcal | Carbohydrates: 68.6g | Protein: 4.7g | Fat: 31.4g | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 48.9g