A cake for Father's Day

I realise Father's Day was a while ago, however I am very late with an update of any kind, so let's start from a few weeks ago.

I have always struggled in finding gifts for my father. He never wants anything, so we all end up buying him either alcohol or books. I am an awful book buyer, so I generally splash out on some grog. Last year for Christmas, I decided to give Dad something he actually wanted - an unlimited amount of carrot cakes for the year. As Dad loves my carrot cake, this went down well. So, when Father's Day was upon us recently, there was only one cake I was going to make - CARROT CAKE.

The recipe I've been using for the past few years is so simple and results in a deliciously moist cake. It only takes about 10 minutes to throw together and about an hour to bake. So get your bowls out and start baking!

Father's Day Carrot Cake

Olive oil, to grease

2 medium sized carrots, grated

150g self-raising flour

75g plain flour

1tsp bicarb soda

1/2tsp cinnamon

80g brown sugar

185ml veg oil

125ml golden syrup

3 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

250g cream cheese, room temp

300g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius. Lightly rub oil into a pan - I generally use whatever I feel like on the day, sometimes a bar tin other times will use a round cake tin - then line with non-stick baking paper.

Sift the flours, bicarb and cinnamon into a bowl. (Tip - I rarely sift my flour. I store flour in large containers and before measuring out my quantities, I shake it in the container to loosen any possibly lumps).

In a new bowl, add the brown sugar, oil, golden syrup, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.

Gentle mix the oil and flour mixtures together with a wooden spoon then stir in the grated carrot.

Pour mixture into tin and bake for about an hour (I usually check after about 50 minutes and then estimate the final baking time based on how the cake looks).

When the cake has finished baking and has cooled on a wire rack, start the cream cheese icing. Using an electric beater mix the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread onto cooled cake and dust with a little bit of cinnamon or a touch of nutmeg.

ENJOY!