Carrot Cake - Delia Smith Style

I often wonder how the first carrot cake came about. I mean, it's not the first ingredient that comes to mind when you think about a baking a cake. I've also made courgette cake and thought the same sort of thing.

There was a particular recipe I used to use which involved separating the eggs, and folding in the whisked egg whites to the main mixture. It resulted in a very yummy cake, but it was a bit fiddly. So when I came across a recipe called Caroline's Carrot Cake in Delia Smith's Book of Cakes, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I've made it a tonne of times since and I have to say it's been a total hit. There's no separating of the eggs, and it's one of the few carrot cakes that doesn't involve a cream cheese topping. I have to say that I actually like that sort of topping but it's not the most portable. Put a slice of that in a lunchbox and you tend to find there's more icing around the inside of the box than on the top of the cake.

Carrot Cake and Blueberry Muffins

The topping of this one is made with orange juice, which is left to soak into the cake once it comes out of the oven. This makes much more of a portable cake, if you're thinking of making it for lunchboxes or picnics. I've also made it without putting on any sort of topping and no complaints so far!

Do you have a favourite recipe for this old favourite? I'd love to hear!

I'm certainly a Delia fan amd have made a lot of cakes from this book, it's definitely one of my favourites, and I'd highly recommend it (Amazon have it here)