A slice of Carrot Cake......

First of all I'd like to wish all wonderful Mothers around the world a 

Happy Mother’s Day

I know I'm a little late on this one but after a weekend free from computers and lack of an internet line I'm back with my belated wish for all mothers, grandmothers and special people in our lives who deserve a special day of appreciation.

A special day where we can say:

• thank you for all the encouragement you gave me and seeing that I could be something better than I ever thought I could be
• for your honesty, support, laughter, patience, beauty and love you have given me all my life
• for reminding me that I am loved no matter what
• for knowing just what to say and when I needed to hear your words of wisdom
• for letting me learn from my mistakes and helping me pick up the pieces
• for being the daughter I am because of you
• and for showing me just how great a mum can be..... 

I love you mum

I've dedicated this my carrot cake to my mum ... it's one of her favourites!

Carrot Cake with Honey Cream Cheese 

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

4 large eggs

3 cups of grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)

1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans) roughly chopped

2 1/4 cup plain flour, sifted

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sultanas

1/2 cup prunes, cut into quarters

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 8 1/2' x 8 1/2' cake tin or a 23cm springform tin with baking paper.

2. Using a large mixing bowl, beat the vegetable oil, brown sugar and eggs until it is thick and creamy. Add the walnuts, sultanas, carrots and prunes and mix until well combined.

3. In another mixing bowl, add the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices. Fold in the flour gradually into the oil egg mixture until all well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 45-55 mins or until a skewer comes clean out of the cake. It should also start to shrink a bit on the sides of the tins. Bake it in the middle of the oven. Remove and let it stand for about 10 mins and then let it cool completely on a rack before putting the cream cheese icing.

Honey Cream Cheese

250 g cream cheese, soften

1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted

2 tbsp honey

1. Using a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, honey and icing sugar until smooth. Spread in over the cooled carrot cake. 

The honey cream cheese is actually my daughter's idea since she always likes cheese cake and it taste so much better than the usual lemon icing.

It took me a while to perfect this recipe and I just love making it for my mum whenever I get the chance to see her.