If a ‘Sara Lee anonymous group’ existed I would have to be
the founding member. For as long as I can remember I’ve had a deep-seated love
of Sara Lee cake; particularly chocolate and carrot. The chocolate was and
continues to be a serious love affair, whilst the carrot is a bit of an
on-again off-again fling. Over the years I’ve tried to replicate Sara’s
chocolate cake but so far no success. Nothing seems to beat it; so sadly no
dice there. I’m beginning to think it contains some illegal substance that
makes it so additive. But last week I decided it was time to try my hand at a
carrot cake and see how close I could get to Sara’s version of this flavour.
And I think I’m pretty close; whilst this cake doesn’t have quite the same
texture, I think the flavours are fairly spot on. Give it a try and see what
you think.
What you’ll need
Cake
3 carrots
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup plain flour
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup golden syrup
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Icing
250g spreadable cream cheese
½ cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
What to do
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease a 20cm round spring-form tin
lightly with oil and line base with grease-proof paper.
Peel and grate your carrots (it’s quite the work out, read
here) and set aside. Sift the flours, bi-carb soda and cinnamon into a large
bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, oil,
golden syrup, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Pour this mixture into
the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to stir gently until just combined.
Stir in the grated carrot.
Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake for an hour,
but make sure you’re keeping a close eye on it from about 50 minutes. Set aside
to cool for 5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.
Make icing by combining ingredients and mixing until well
combined.
Ice cake when cool and enjoy with a cup of tea!
Photos by Krissie.