I bake this on a tray and cut it with a round cutter. it takes half as long to bake and I don’t have to stand in front of the oven watching it.
Optional ingredients
- 350g (2 1⁄3 cups) coarsely grated carrot
- 250g (2 cups) plain flour
- 4 eggs
- 8g (2 tsp) baking powder
- 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
- 180ml (3⁄4 cup) vegetable oil
- a pinch of salt
For the icing
- 6g (1 tbsp) ground cardamom
- 2g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
- 30g (1⁄4 cup) chopped or slivered pistachios
For the carrot jam
- 500g (2 cups) heavy cream or cream cheese
- 300g (1 1⁄2 cup) caster sugar
- 200g (1 1⁄2 cup) finely grated carrot
- 150g ( 3⁄4 cup) caster sugar
- optionally, 1g (1⁄2 tsp) ground cardamom
Grease a 30x40cm (12x16 inch) oven tray with baking spray or line it with baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Make sure to squeeze all the carrot juice out of the grated carrot after weighing or you will end up with a soggy (and raw) cake.
Gently fold the prepared carrot in the dry ingredients.
Beat the eggs and the sugar with an electric mixer until pale and thick. Mixer still on, drizzle in the oil and gradually add the carrot mixture. This will only take a couple of minutes.
If you are adding ground cardamom and cinnamon, now is the time.
Pour the batter and spread evenly into the prepared tray and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Set aside for an hour to cool.
To make the icing, beat the heavy cream or cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until the sugar is fully dissolved. If using heavy cream, continue beating until the cream is whipped and formed.
This should take about three minutes.
To make the jam, combine the grated carrot with the sugar in a saucepan. Cook on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the carrots are cooked and the syrup is thick.
If you want to add an extra boost of aroma to the jam, add ground cardamom.
To assemble, cut three 20cm discs out of the cake using a cake cutter.
Don’t worry if you break the discs or if they’re not perfectly round - you can use odd bits and pieces and patch them back together; just use the imperfect disc as the middle layer.
Put the first layer on a cake stand and spread 3 spoonfuls of jam into the centre followed by a third of the icing.
If you’re adding pistachios (and I strongly recommend that you do), scatter a third of them onto the cream cheese.
Repeat with the second and third layer, then pipe the final third of the icing on top with the remaining pistachios and a few dots of carrot jam.
