These carrot cake loaves are moreish and light. This is the sweet treat your family and friends will ask you to make over and over again. 

Mini carrot cake loaves

Makes 12 

Ingredients

For the carrot cake: 

2 cups (300g) flour
2 tsp (10ml) baking powder
½ tsp (2.5ml) bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp (5ml) salt
2 tsp (10ml) cinnamon
½ tsp (2.5ml) all spice
½ tsp (2.5ml) ground cardamom
1 cup (250ml) canola oil
1⅓ cups (300g) light brown sugar
4 large eggs
½ cup (120g) sour cream
2 tsp (10ml) vanilla extract (or paste)
270g carrots, peeled and roughly grated
⅓ cup (80g) pecan nuts, toasted and chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced 

For the cream cheese icing: 

⅔ cup (160g) butter, at room temperature
1 tub (200g) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tsp (10ml) vanilla paste
Pinch salt
3⅓ cup (430g) icing sugar, sifted
1 lemon, zested 

Edible flowers, to garnish
Dried carrot (See cook’s tip) 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Spray 2 x 6-hole mini loaf tin or 30x22cm sheet pan with non-stick spray.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt. Add spices and mix though.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk oil and sugar until creamy.
5. Add eggs one by one, mixing well after every addition.
6. Add sour cream, vanilla, carrots, nuts, lemon zest and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. 
7. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold through until just combined into a batter. 
8. Transfer to the prepared tin.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes for the mini loaves (or 45 minutes for a sheet cake) or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
10. For the cream cheese icing, whisk all ingredients for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
11. If the cake was baked as a sheet, cut into portions. Ice cake loaves or squares to your liking. Decorate with edible flowers and dried carrot crisps just before serving. 

Cook’s tip 

To make the dried carrot crisps, preheat oven to 100°C. Use a vegetable peeler to make some thin carrot peels. Place the peels on an oven tray, making sure they do not lie on top of each other or are clumped up. Place in the oven to dry out for about 1 hour. While drying out, gently move the peels around on the tray every 20 minutes for even drying. Cool and store in an airtight jar. 

Recipes & styling: Lichelle May
Photography: Zhann Solomons

Also read: Pickled fish toast

The post Mini carrot cake loaves appeared first on MyKitchen.