CARROT, SPICE & CANDIED GINGER CAKE
Carrot cake can sometimes be a saccharine affair, but this gingery version is pared back in its sweetness to let the nutty flavours shine. Stem ginger, the sort stored like orbs of amber in syrup, is two ingredients in one. The rhizome (stem) itself is tender and juicy with its kick of untamed heat, while the syrup is suffused with a gentler warmth.
SERVES 8-10
150g plain flour
150g caster sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g walnuts, coarsely chopped
100g stem ginger in syrup, roughly chopped
250g carrots, grated 150ml light olive oil or sunflower oil
3 eggs, beaten
FOR THE FROSTING
250g mascarpone
3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted 2-3 tbsp stem ginger syrup walnuts, to decorate
1 Grease a deep, loosebottomed 22cm cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
2 Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix through the walnuts and stem ginger, then the carrots.
3 Make a well in the middle and add the olive oil and eggs. Mix together to make an even batter. Spoon into the cake tin and level the surface. 4 Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden and firm, its sides beginning to shrink away from the tin. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen with a blunt knife and stand on a rack to cool completely.
5 For the frosting, drain off any liquid from the mascarpone. Stir in the icing sugar and ginger syrup. Spread on the cake and decorate with walnuts. Store in the fridge.