Carrot patch cake

This simple carrot cake tastes great on the day it’s made, but even better a day or two later, so make ahead if you can.

SERVES 10-12 PREP 25 mins COOK 1 hr 10 mins EASY V ❄ un-iced cake

175ml vegetable oil, plus extra for the tin

75g natural yogurt

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g self-raising flour

250g light muscovado sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ fresh nutmeg, finely grated 200g carrots (about three), grated

100g sultanas or raisins

100g pistachios, finely chopped (or slivered if you can get them) For the icing

100g slightly salted butter, softened 200g icing sugar

100g full-fat cream cheese

50g fondant icing or marzipan orange food colouring

1 Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. Whisk the oil, yogurt, eggs and vanilla in a jug. Mix the four, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg with a good pinch of salt in a bowl. Squeeze any lumps of sugar through your fngers, shaking the bowl a few times to bring the lumps to the surface.

2 Add the wet ingredients to the dry, along with the carrots, raisins and half the pistachios. Mix well to combine, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If any wet mixture clings to the skewer, return to the oven for 5 mins, then check again. Leave to cool in the tin.

3 To make the icing, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add half the cream cheese and beat again, then add the rest (adding it bit by bit prevents the icing from splitting). Remove the cake from the tin and spread the icing thickly on top. Scatter with some of the remaining pistachios. Dye the fondant or marzipan orange by kneading in a drop of food colouring. Roll into little carrot shapes, then use a skewer to make indentations and poke a few pistachios in to look like fronds. Top the cake with the carrots, then serve. Will keep in the fridge for up to fve days (eat at room temperature).

PER SERVING (12) 546 kcals • fat 30g • saturates 8g • carbs 63g • sugars 49g • fibre 3g • protein 6g • salt 0.5g