Sour Cream Carrot Cake

I first ate this cake at a friends place. After being seduced by its deliciousness and being given the recipe, it became the first non-packet cake that I had ever made. It was about week 8 of my second semester of uni, and making cake was just the thing I needed to lifted my defeated spirits during that mid-semester hump. It’s a really easy cake that is simple but delicious and is plausibly healthy enough that you don't even feel guilty eating two slices. So if you ever need an excuse to get away from your study: go shopping for carrots, lemons and nutmeg. 

(I was unable to trace the source of this recipe, but it was given to me by my friend, Nicola.)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup SR flour
• ½ cup plain flour
• ½ tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1½ cups grated carrot (~2 large carrots)
• ½ cup oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ cup sour cream

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 60g packaged cream cheese, softened
• 30g soft butter
• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 1½ cups icing sugar

Method:

Grease a 20cm ring pan, line base with paper; grease paper. Sift flours, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into bowl; stir in sugar and carrot. Combine oil, eggs and sour cream; stir into flour mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pan, bake in moderately slow oven for ≈50mins. (140˚C fan force, 160˚C conventional) Turn onto sire rack to cool. When cold, spread w frosting, decorate with walnut halves.

Cream Cheese Frosting :

Beat cream cheese, butter and lemon rind in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, gradually beat in sifted icing sugar; beat until combined. (keeping time: 4days)

Jinghan Says:

This cake is just as nice with some icing sugar, or vanilla dusting sugar dusted over it, if you can’t be bothered making the cream cheese frosting. Without the frosting you can microwave the cake so that you can have it deliciously warm.