Purple Carrot Cake

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Nikki of the blog The Wholefood Mama asked if I would share the carrot cake recipe I made for a special birthday.  I loved the taste of this cake, it tasted like one of those yummy cakes you buy in the shops that cost several dollars a piece but this one tastes just that little bit nicer because it's homemade.  I will warn you that purple carrots do stain a little so if you'd rather not have purple hands then I would wear some gloves.  The other thing that happened was when mixing the carrots into the batter the colour change was not that pretty.  The mixture turned a green kind of colour which looks a bit off putting but once cooked the colour wasn't so bad and after all it's the taste that matters the most and it does taste good.  I hope you enjoy giving this recipe a try.

2 persian/purple carrots (grated)
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup olive oil (light flavour)
½ cup golden syrup
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tblsp honey

Icing
200g cream cheese (room temperature)
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
¾ cup pure icing sugar (sifted)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 165-170 ℃ (fan forced). Grease a 20cm round cake pan with the olive oil lightly and line with baking paper.
2. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl.
3. With a fork (I prefer it to a whisk but this is up to you) mix brown sugar, oil, golden syrup, eggs and vanilla together in a smaller mixing bowl.
4. Pour the wet mixture in with the dry and combine with a wooden spoon gently.  Add the carrot and mix in.
5. Pour mixture into your cake pan and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  (Note: If your oven is like min, keep a close eye on your cake especially once it begins to fill the kitchen with a sweet spicy aroma.  If you think it's done, remove from the oven and skewer the centre.  If it removes clean, it's ready and all we need to do is wait for it to cool).
6. Once removed from the oven, use a knife to pierce the cake in various places.  Take a tablespoon of honey and drizzle it across the surface of the cake and allow it to soak in.
7. For the icing, mix the cream cheese and lemon rind together.  Gradually add the icing sugar and once combined, add the lemon juice.  Dip your finger in and sample (Delicious!! Yes, a necessary step I assure you).
8. Once the cake has cooled, ice the cake, find a fork and enjoy!

Have a wonderful weekend.