This carrot cake traybake couldn't be easier and is soft and fluffy with a delicious cream-cheese frosting.
The prep time is 25 minutes. You'll need to whisk oil, sugar, eggs, orange juice and spices until combined. Then sift in the flour and bicarb and mix until smooth. Then it's just a case of stirring in orange zest, carrots, sultanas and walnuts (optional) and baking.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
20 serving(s)
Prep Time:
25 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 10 mins
Cal/Serv:
281
Ingredients
For the cake
200 ml sunflower oil, plus extra to grease
225 g light brown soft sugar
4 medium eggs
Finely grated zest 1 orange, plus juice of 1/2
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. mixed spice
225 g self-raising flour
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
200 g coarsely grated carrot
125 g sultanas
25 g chopped walnuts, optional
For the cream cheese frosting
200 g icing sugar sifted
150 g full-fat cream cheese, we used Philadelphia
50 g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
25 g chopped walnuts, optional
Directions
Step 1Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3. Lightly grease and line a 20.5 x 30.5cm (8 x 12in) rectangular roasting tin with baking parchment.
Step 2For the cake, whisk oil, sugar, eggs, orange juice and spices in a large bowl until combined. Sift over flour and bicarb and mix until smooth. Stir in the orange zest, carrots, sultanas and walnuts, if using, until combined.
Step 3Scrape into prepared tin, smoothing to level. Bake for 45min or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 10min, then lift on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Step 4To make the cream cheese frosting, beat icing sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk until smooth. Spread over top of cake and scatter over walnuts, if using. Slice and serve.
To store: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Get ahead: Bake cake up to a day ahead. Once cool, return to tin (still in its baking parchment), wrap tin tightly in clingfilm and store at room temperature. Complete recipe to serve.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
