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olive oil carrot cake traybake

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carrot cake traybake

Carrot Cake

So this olive oil carrot cake traybake is pretty much my go-to carrot cake which is actually a Delia Smith recipe from her brilliant Vegetarian Collection Cookbook. It’s what she calls her ‘Luxury Carrot Cake’ as it is packed with wonderful things like desiccated coconut and ground almonds.  I’ve added to it and updated it over the years and this version uses extra virgin olive oil instead of the originally suggested and simpler sunflower oil.  To be honest you can’t really taste the difference in a big way but there’s a subtle, almost ‘grassier’ flavour which is perfect for this olive oil carrot cake traybake and I adore.
carrot cake traybake
for the cake
  • 175g dark brown soft sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 150ml extra virgin oil –  I used some wonderful Pomora Olive Oil
  • 150g wholemeal self-raising flour
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • one teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 200g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
  • grated zest of 1 orange
  • 110g sultanas (I actually used some mixed dried fruit which I had leftover from Christmas.)
  • 50g desiccated coconut
For the cinnamon icing
  • 1 x 250g tub of cream cheese
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 juice of a lemon plus the grated zest
  • 1 rounded tablespoon golden caster sugar
For the syrup glaze
  • 75g dark brown soft sugar
  • juice of 1 small orange
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC and grease and line a tray.  I’m using a 30cm x 20cm tin but to be honest any oven-proof baking tray would work, you just may need to adjust the cooking time slightly.

The Cake

Place the sugar, eggs and oil in a bowl and whisk them together for 2–3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. (I’m using my smeg stand mixer with the whisk attachment but an electric hand whisk and a large bowl would work just as well.)

Sift the flour, spice and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl – the little bits of bran left in the sieve can be tipped in at the end and fold all this in gently. (I change the attachment to the cake batter paddle and put it to the lowest setting.  Once that is evenly combined,  add the rest of the cake ingredients and gently fold in.

Pour the cake mix into the baking tray and level it off with the back of a tablespoon. Bake near the centre of the oven for roughly 30 minutes or until they are springy and firm in the centre.

The Glaze and Icing

Whilst the cake is in the oven make the the syrup glaze. Simply whisking together the sugar and fruit juices. As soon as the cake come out of the oven, stab it all over with a skewer and then spoon the syrup evenly over the hot cake. After that they need to cool in the baking tray in order to soak up all of the syrup.

Make the icing by whisking the cream cheese, cinnamon, juice, zest and sugar in a bowl till smooth and fluffy. Then cover the bowl and chill until needed.

As soon as the cake is completely cold remove it from the balking tray and slather the icing all over the top.  Cut into squares to serve.

For more cake recipes try these on Dom in the Kitchen.

Eat and of course, enjoy!

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