HOW TO MAKE CARROT CAKE

Serves 8 to 10 Ingredients For the cake

4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

½ cup pure cane sugar or granulated sugar

2 tbs sunflower or mild vegetable

oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg ⅛ tsp ground cloves

2 cups finely grated/shredded carrots (from 3 large, peeled carrots)

Icing sugar, for dusting

For the filling

1¼ cups icing sugar, preferably sifted 250ml cream cheese, at room temperature

8 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Grease a large baking sheet with cooking oil spray, including sides, and line with parchment paper.

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until evenly yellow, then add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves, whisking to form a smooth, caramelcoloured batter.

Stir in the carrots until evenly distributed, then pour on to baking sheet. Spread the batter in an even layer, making sure to reach all the corners.

If you find any large bits of carrot, get rid of them; they may create holes or gaps in the cake.

Bake (middle rack) for 13 minutes; the surface will look moist and lightly browned at the edges. (This is a flat cake.)

Transfer to a wide wire rack to cool for no more than a few minutes, then run a knife around to loosen the cake’s edges.

The next few steps are the only tricky bits; do them in quick succession, while the cake is warm.

Slide the cake and its parchment on to the rack. Place a clean dish towel over the cake. Clamp your hands on to the edges of the rack (through the towel) and carefully invert the cake so it is on the dish towel, parchment side up. Peel away and discard the paper. Then use the rack and towel to flip the cake right side up, so it’s lying flat directly on the dish towel.

While the cake is warm, gently tuck one short end under and begin to roll the cake across, creating a cylinder. It doesn’t have to be tight or perfect; this will help “train” the cake to roll and keep it from splitting once the filling is spread on it.

Let the cake cool in its roll. Sometimes a wrinkle in the paper may cause an indented line in the cake; not to worry. Meanwhile, make the filling:

Combine the icing sugar, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and spices in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on low speed until the sugar is blended in, then increase the speed to mediumhigh and beat until smooth, creamy and somewhat firm – firmer than a buttercream frosting.

Unroll the cake on to a new piece of parchment paper (off the towel; the same size as the laid-out cake). Dust it lightly with icing sugar; this will help the filling stay in place.

Use an offset spatula to spread the filling evenly, leaving a 10mm margin on the long sides.

Re-roll the cake, gently, again from the same short side you used before, trying to make a somewhat tight roll.

Roll it back toward you with the paper. Wrap the roll in aluminium foil, twisting the ends shut.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until firm. At this point, it can also be frozen.

When ready to serve, unwrap the carrot cake roll and place on a platter.

Dust it with icing sugar.

Trim the short ends to expose the spiral pattern inside (and snack on those trimmings).

Clean your sharp knife after making each crosswise cut.

Serve at cool room temperature.