Recipe: Carrot and almond cake with whiskey-soaked fruit and cream cheese

While the relevance of carrots to rabbits is questionable, Easter is coming and that’s excuse enough to make a carrot cake.

I’m convinced it’s my mum’s favourite thing to make and eat, and we grew up treating it like a delicacy.

To me, a good carrot cake is warmly spiced, moist, has lots of plump fruit and walnuts, and is always dressed in a cream cheese icing. Mum always put pineapple in hers, so naturally I used pineapple in this recipe.

Rather than plain old raisins, I’ve used a combination of sultanas and dried apricots, which are soaked in whiskey before being added to the cake. This gives them a plump, juicy texture and added flavour from the whiskey; you can use rum if you prefer.

This cake is gluten free and is sweetened only with maple syrup (use real maple syrup if you can - this will give the cake a beautifully rich flavour that doesn’t compare to the fake stuff!); the almond meal creates a nice dense crumb and slight nutty flavour.

Feel free to make substitutions for the nuts and dried fruit. Almonds or pecans work well in place of walnuts; and dates, prunes, raisins or dried apple can replace the sultanas and apricots.

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Carrot & Almond Cake with Whiskey-Soaked Fruit & Cream Cheese icing

Serves 10-12

CAKE

● 50g dried apricots, chopped

● 40g sultanas

● 2 Tbsp whiskey

● 250g almond meal

● 50g cornflour

● 4 tsp cinnamon

● 2 tsp baking powder

● 1/2 tsp ginger

● 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

● 1/4 tsp salt

● 75g butter, soft

● 1 1/2 cups maple syrup

● 2 eggs

● Juice and zest of half a lemon

● 150g carrot, grated

● 75g canned pineapple, drained and chopped

● 50g roasted walnuts, chopped

ICING

● 200g cream cheese

● 100g butter, at room temperature, diced

● 100g icing sugar

● 1/2 tsp whiskey

● 1/4 tsp salt

1. Place apricots and sultanas in a small bowl and pour over whiskey. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 180C fan forced. Line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

3. Add almond meal, cornflour, baking powder, ginger and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly mix to combine.

4. Add butter and mix on low for 30 seconds, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add maple syrup and beat on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds.

5. Add eggs and lemon juice, and beat on medium to incorporate. Finally, increase speed to medium-high and beat for 45 seconds. The mixture should be thick and creamy.

6. Add the lemon zest, soaked fruit (and the whiskey), walnuts, grated carrot and pineapple and fold through. Transfer batter to your cake tin and smooth the top.

7. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until nicely browned and a skewer inserted comes out clean. When cooked, allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and cooling completely.

8. Meanwhile, make the icing. Clean out your mixing bowl and paddle. Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl and beat, using the paddle attachment, for 3-4 minutes on medium until creamy.

9. Reduce speed to low and gradually add icing sugar. Once incorporated, add whiskey and salt, and briefly beat through. Refrigerate until ready to ice.

10. When the cake has completely cooled, dollop over the icing and spread to the edges. Garnish with crushed roasted walnuts, and serve at room temperature.

11. Beat the cream cheese and butter first until creamy, then slowly add icing sugar and beat until light and creamy. Whip through salt and whiskey.