Tomorrow I am off to visit my friend Helen and her parents at their home in Suffolk and I wanted to take something tasty with me as they are always cooking me fantastic home cooked food.  I decided to make Carrot Cake as according to Helen it is her mum's favourite.  The recipe I use creates a deliciously moist carrot cake and has been slightly adapted from a recipe I found on the website all recipies.com and the post was called 'best ever carrot cake'. 

The finished product:

To make my favourite carrot cake you will need:
6 cups grated carrots
1 cup soft brown sugar
1 cup of raisins
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
1 cup vegtable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecan nuts

The first thing I do is grate the carrots, I then squeeze a lot of the moisture out of the carrots through a muslin cloth.  Mix the grated carrot with the brown sugar and raisins and set aside for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 170°C(fan)/190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.  Grease and baseline two 10 inch cake tins (or 3 x 8 inch)

• In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy. 
• Gradually beat in the caster sugar, oil and vanilla. 
• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves and salt and stir into the wet mixture until combined. 
• Finally fold in the carrot mixture and pecans and pour into the prepared cake tins and cook for about 40 to 45 minutes.  It may take a little longer but I would check on it after 40 minutes.  If using 3 x 8 inch tins then adjust the cooking time to 30 to 35 minutes.

To decorate I like to use a cream cheese icing to compliment my carrot cake. 

You will need:
700g icing sugar
250g cream cheese
100g unsalted butter at room temperature

Mix the icing sugar and butter until combined and then add in the cream cheese and mix once again until smooth.  Once your cakes are cool, sandwich together with cream cheese icing and then cover the whole cake with the remaining icing.

If you are icing your cake the day before it will need to be put in the fridge but make sure it is covered properly.  Ideally ice your cake on the day you are going to serve it as cake can sometimes go a bit dry in the fridge or water can get into it if it isn't covered properly.  If leaving on the side for a few hours, ensure it isn't left near any source of heat.  It should be put in a cool dry place in an air tight container.