Mrs Simkins’ Festive Mini Iced Carrot Cakes
These darling little carrot cakes look as if they’ve just fallen off the Christmas tree! They are are very simple to put together: a food processor makes short work of both the cake mixture and the icing.
Serve with a pot of your favourite Clipper brew!
Makes 18
Ingredients
- 110g softened butter
- 110g golden caster sugar
- 150g grated carrot (grated weight)
- Grated zest of 1 orange
- 110g wholemeal flour
- 50g plain flour
- 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 2 level teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 medium eggs
- 50g ground almonds
- Plus: orange glace icing (see below) and pink decorating sugar
Method
- Preheat oven to 170C (fan oven) or equivalent
- You will need a 2 x 12 cup muffin or tart tins plus standard size paper cake cases
- Whiz the butter and sugar together.
- Add the grated carrot and orange zest and whiz again.
- Add the flours, raising agents, cinnamon, eggs and ground almonds and whiz until combined and the mixture looks smooth and glossy. Remove the lid a couple of times and scrape the mixture down from the sides with a flexible spatula.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the cake cases. Bake for around 15 minutes or until risen and springy to the touch. A skewer should come out clean when inserted.
- Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
Orange Glace Icing
This is a great way of making glace icing: no more choking clouds of icing sugar getting down your throat and landing all over the worktop!
Ingredients
- 75g icing sugar
- Approximately 1-2 tablespoons orange juice
- ½ teaspoon glycerine
Method
- Put the icing sugar into the clean, dry bowl of your processor and give it a few turns to eliminate any lumps.
- Add the juice and whiz until smooth.
- Add the glycerine and whiz until smooth and glossy.
- Spoon over the cooled cakes and sprinkle with pink sugar before the icing sets.