"The best carrot cake I have ever tasted" recipe!

As promised, here is the recipe for the carrot cake, partly taken from the BBC's Good Food website:

For the cake:

1 orange
140g raisins, or whatever you have if less
125ml rapeseed or olive oil
230g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder, plus an additional pinch
1 rounded tsp of ground cinnamon
140g caster sugar
280g grated carrot (my carrots weighed just under 400g before I peeled them)
2 eggs

For the frosting:

125g unsalted butter, room temp
50g icing sugar
250g cream cheese
1 tsp of vanilla essence

To make the cake:

Heat the oven to 160 C (I used 150 C as my oven appears hotter than normal). Oil and line the base and sides of a deep cake tin - I used a 20cm round tin, but you could use a square one.

Grate the zest of the orange into a bowl with the raisins. Add the juice, then mix. Set aside.

Mix the flour with the baking powder (not the pinch, that's for later), the cinnamon and the bicarbonate of soda. Set aside for the moment.

Separate 1 egg - put the yolk in a large bowl, and the white in a small bowl. Set the white aside (yes, I know - another item set aside - bear with me!). Break the remaining egg in with the yolk, then add the sugar. Whisk until thick (about 2 mins). Slowly pour in the oil and whisk on a low speed until well combined.

Add the flour mix, half at a time, a stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula - this will be quite hard as the mix is quite stiff at this point!

Now return to your set aside white, and add the pinch of baking powder. Whisk to soft peaks.

Fold the carrot and the raisin mix (including the liquid) into the flour mixture; again, this will start out quite difficult, but will get easier. Once combined, gently fold in the egg white. Your mixture should now be relatively runny, in a solid sort of way!

Pour into the tin, then wobble it to level the mixture. Bake for 1 hour, or until risen and firm - a skewer or something similar should come out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes or so, then remove and peel off the paper. Leave on a cooling rack until completely cool.

Whilst the cake is cooling, make the frosting...

Beat the butter and icing sugar together, then beat in the cream cheese and vanilla. Chill until solid, but not so much that you can't spread it! When the cake is completely cool, frost the cake however you like; I covered the top and sides, but you could just cover the top, or even cut the cake in half and use some to sandwich it together.

Get a fork, and enjoy!

Poached pear and frangipane tart recipe

Recipe for poached pear and frangipane tart

NB my oven appears to be very hot, so you may need to increase your cooking temp a little if yours is not as effective!

For the pastry:

90g butter, softened

65g caster sugar

3 egg yolks

200g plan flour

For the Frangipane:

125g butter, softened

125g caster sugar

2 whole eggs

125g ground almonds

1 tbsp plain flour

For the poached pears:

250g caster sugar

4 pears

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

Lemon juice (half a lemon’s worth)

½ a vanilla pod

1 star anise

Method:

Make the pastry – cream butter and sugar then beat in egg yolks, 1 at a time, until fully combined.

Mix in the flour until the mixture comes to a dough.

Tip out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth.

Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 mins.

Make the frangipane – Cream the butter and sugar. Gradually beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in the almonds and flour. Mix until combined then chill until needed.

Make the poached pears - Put the sugar in a saucepan,add 500ml water and place over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Peel the pears and add to the pan, along with the cinnamon and star anise. Add the lemon juice, and half a lemon and orange zest if wished. Split the vanilla pod in half, scrape out the seeds and add to the pan along with the pod. Add some more water to just cover the pears.

Cut out a circle of baking paper large enough to fit inside the pan, and lay on top of the pears. Weigh down with a saucer or small saucepan lid so that the pears stay submerged in the poaching liquor. Simmer for 20 minutes, then remove the pears to a plate with a slotted spoon and discard the liquor and solids.

Preheat the oven to 120°C (fan).

Make the tart:

I usually then put my pastry into the tart tin, and push it into shape with my fingers/a spoon – you could roll out first if preferred. Prick all over with a fork. Add a circle of parchment and your baking beans/rice, then blind bake the pastry for approx. 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the beans/parchment. Whisk up an egg then paint over the pastry to seal (make sure the pastry is hot when you do this). When the egg has sealed, and the pastry has cooled, add the frangipane mix and level out. Chill the tart at this point if the pears are not ready, or cool enough to handle.

Leave the oven on, but lower the temperature to 100°C.

When the pears are cooked and cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthways and remove the core/stalk etc with a teaspoon. Arrange them on the top of the frangipane however you prefer.

Bake the tart at 100°C for approx. 30 minutes (not sure about this though – keep an eye!), checking to see when the frangipane is set. At this point, turn the oven up to approx. 150°C and bake for a short while longer until the pastry starts to turn a golden brown. Remove from the oven to a cool rack.

Enjoy a large slice warm with ice cream or clotted cream J