How to make carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the baking pan of your choice with oil or butter, then layer with wax or butter paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine oil, grated carrots, brown sugar and vanilla essence. Mix well, using a hand mixer. Add eggs one by one to the bowl, and mix again. Keep aside.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and mixed spices into another bowl – before adding it to the egg-sugar-carrot mixture – in batches.

4. Fold in the tutti-frutti and crushed cornflakes to the mixture, before pouring into the prepared pan.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool the cake for a minimum of 1 hour, before frosting.

Note: You can also insert a skewer into the centre of the cake to check if the cake comes out clean.

6. For the frosting, first add a stick of butter and beat it thoroughly so that it becomes pale, light and double the volume.

7. Next, add cream cheese and vanilla essence, and beat it for another 5 minutes.

8. Add the powdered sugar (or icing sugar) in batches till it becomes smooth and creamy.

9. Spread the frosting evenly on the cooled cake before garnishing it with the caramelised cashew nuts.

10. Let the cake sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

Note: Leave the eggs and butter at room temperature prior to the baking process.