Carrot Cake to die for!!

Nothing beats carrot cake especially if it comes with cream cheese icing!! I made this for my mum as it is her favourite cake!! Well maybe after hummingbird cake...which I have yet to attempt!  I worked at a bakery as a student and they decorated their carrot cakes with chopped apricots and choc chips, but I just used apricots for this one :)

I used the Chelsea sugar website recipe, and my mum said it was great!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup Chelsea Caster Sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sunflower or canola oil
1 tsp Vanilla essence
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup sultanas or raisins
2 Tbsp desiccated coconut

Cream Cheese Icing
125g cream cheese, softened
50g butter, softened
2 1/2 cups Chelsea Icing Sugar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Sift flours, spices and soda into a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, don't beat.
Line a 20 x 23cm cake tin (6 cm deep) with baking paper and grease well. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 1 hour. The cake is cooked when a skewer is inserted into the centre of the cake and the skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool then remove from the cake tin and peel away the paper.
Spread the top of the cake with cream Cheese Icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
Beat all the ingredients together until smooth Icing consistency. Spread over top of cake.