Carrot and Ginger Cake

I made this Nigella’s recipe for years and it’s truly always a winner!
 
Ideal for those who like less sweet cakes. But that doesn’t mean it’s not packed in flavor, on the contrary.
  
Ingredients:
For the cake
200g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tsp Ground Ginger
¼ tsp fine sea salt 
175g soft light brown sugar 
2 large eggs, at room temperature 
200ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing 
200g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated 
100g walnut pieces, roughly chopped, plus extra for decorating 
75g crystallised ginger, finely chopped, plus extra for decorating 

For the icing
100g  unsalted butter, softened 
100g icing sugar, sieved if lumpy 
1 tsp cornflour
100g cream cheese 
1 tbsp coarsely grated fresh root ginger

Method
1.    Preheat the oven to 170C/150C and grease the sides and line the base of a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

2.    Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and salt together in a bowl. 

3.    Beat the sugar, eggs and oil in another large bowl until they are completely mixed together, then gradually add the flour mixture. At this stage the mixture may seem alarmingly stiff, but the carrots will loosen it up. Beat in the carrots and then fold in the walnuts and crystallised ginger, until everything is evenly combined. 

4.    Spoon into the prepared tin. Don’t worry if it looks as if you haven’t got enough batter, as the cake will rise well as it bakes. Smooth the top and bake for 45–55 minutes. When it’s ready, the cake will be set and golden brown on top, beginning to shrink away from the edges of the tin and a cake tester will come out with just a few crumbs stuck to it. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool in its tin. 

5.    Meanwhile, to make the icing, beat the butter and icing sugar together and when combined, beat in the cornflour, followed by half the cream cheese. Once that’s incorporated, beat in the remaining half. Be careful not to over-beat or the icing will get too runny. Squeeze the juice from the grated ginger into the bowl and mix in, discard the ginger flesh. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge. 

6.    When the cake is completely cold, take the icing out of the fridge for about 20 minutes. Beat briefly to make sure it’s smooth. Remove the cake from its tin and place on a plate or cake stand. Spread the icing on top, swirling it a little, then sprinkle some chopped walnuts and crystallised ginger on top.

Kolač od Mrkve i Đumbira

Ovaj Nigellin recept spremam godinama i uvijek je pun pogodak. Idealan za one koji vole manje slatke kolace. To ne znaci da nije ukusan, upravo suprotno.

Savjetujem vam da prije spremanja dobro isčitate recept i obavite pripremu. Ustitnite mrkvu orahe, djumbir. Iz frizidera izvadite puter i jaja, jer trebaju biti sobne temperature. Kada ste ovo napravili, dalja priprema je jednostavna i brza 

Sastojci
Za kolač:
 200 gr brašna
1 kašičica praška za pecivo
½ kašičice sode bikarbone
2 velike kašike rendanog djumbira
¼ kašičice soli
175 grama smedjeg šećera
2 krupna jaja (sobne temperature)
200 ml ulja (trebat će vam još nekoliko kapi za podmazati tepsiju)
200 grama krupno rendane mrkve
100 grama oraha (krupno sječenih) Trebat će vam još jedna šaka za dekoraciju
75 grama ušećerenog djumbira, sitno nasjeckanog. Trebat će vam još šaka za dekoraciju.
 
Za glazuru:
 100 grama neslanig putera (sobna temperature)
100 grama šećera u prahu (prosijte ako se zgrudvao)
1 kašičica kukuruznog brašna
100 grama mazivog sira (Philadelphia ili neki slican tome) (Ja stavim malo više od 100 grama)
1 kašičica narendanog djumbira
 
Proces:
1.Rernu zagrijte na 150C/170C. Podmažite kalup koji ste obložili papirom za pečenje. Kalup treba biti promjera 20 cm.
 
2. Pomiješajte brasno, prašak, sodu bikarbonu, narendani djumbir i so.
 
3. U drugoj posudi dobro umutite jaja, šećer i ulje. Brašno potom dodajite postepeno. Masa će biti prilično gusta, ali mrkva će opustiti tijesto. Dodajte mrkvu, umutite, pa na kraju dodajte i orahe i kristalizirani djumbir i sve lijepo sjedinite.
 
4. Izlijte u pripremljeni kalup. Izravnajte površinu i pecite 45 – 55 minuta. Kada je pečeno. Tijesto će dobiti zlatno tamnu boju na površini a kada zabijete čačkalicu na njoj će biti nekoliko mrvica. Izvadite i ostavite da se ohladi.
 
5. Pripremite glazuru. Najprije umutite puter i šećer u prahu. Kada se to dvoje sjedini dodajte sitno kukuruzno brasno i dodajte pola krem sira. Kada se sjedini dodajte i preostalo pola.  Pazite da ne premijesite, jer će glazura postati tečna. Stanite čim vidite da se sjedinilo. Ucijedite sok rendanog djumbira a njegovo meso odstranite. (Priznajem da ja ponekad jednostavno dodam tu kasiku djumbira, ne cijedeci mu sok i ne bacajauci ostatak). Pokrijte prozirnom folijom i spremite u frizider dok se kora potpuno ne ohladi.
 
6.     Kad je kora hladna, izvadite glazuru, promiješajte i premažite preko kolača. Potom ukrasite lomljenim orasima i sjeckanim ušećerenim djumbirom.