My work buddy was going off on maternity leave and she asked me " what can you bake or make for me on my last day?", which got me thinking! She loves carrot cake, so I must make something like that, then since baking season was going to start shortly I wonder if I should make a maternity baby style cake. Baking season starts with my son's birthday, then my daughters 2 weeks later than after my husbands 2 weeks after that - and they do have a lot of cakes with a party cake, and an actual cake on their birthday and a cake to take into school.
As my friend had no idea if it was a boy or girl, I had to keep the cake neutral, so I decided to decorate with a baby's bottom with 2 little chubby feet. Believe it or not, but this cake literally took me about 15 minutes to decorate, as although it looks hard, actually it was so easy, as the bum was just a ball of icing, feet were more of a pebble type size and round balls for the toes, then just some white fondant rolled out for the blanket. When you breakdown these cakes, they are a lot easier than you think.
Keeping it simple with just the frosting on the outside, made it so much easier and quicker to make on a busy taxi-mum week night. When I take a cake into the office, and most of it gone by midday is always a good sign.
Ingredients:
Cake
300g Light Muscovado sugar
3 eggs
300ml Rapeseed oil
300g Plain flour
1 tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
300g Grated carrots
150g Sultanas
Frosting
600g Icing Sugar
150g Butter
150g Cream Cheese
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
Beat together oil and sugar until light and airy.
Add eggs, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, salt and vanilla and beat together until flour is incorporated well.
Add carrots and sultanas to the cake the batter.
Mix for further 20-30 seconds until mixed well on low speeds.
Pour into 2 greased and floured 23cm cake tins and bake in the oven at 170c for about 25-30 minutes until fully baked, check with cake tester or push slightly in the middle for the cake to spring back.
Add soften butter and icing sugar to a mixing bowl and beat together until the mixture appears a little like bread crumbs.
Add cream cheese and vanilla and beat until cream cheese is mixed in, do not overbeat, as the mixture may become runny.
If it does become a little runny then add a little more icing sugar until the right spreadable consistency, if the icing is a little tough, then add a drop of milk.
Once the cakes have cooled, spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
Sandwich the cake together, then cover the outside with a thick layer of frosting.
Using fondant icing, create a ball for the bottom, then 2 feet, and cover half of the feet & bottom with a blanket. As the cake is not covered with fondant, keep chilled overnight.
Perfect carrot cake for a baby shower or maternity leaving do.
