Tasty Thursday- Mini Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Topping

I received the worst or should I say rather shocking news ever on Monday. Upon hearing that, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it and I somehow let it affect my routine life. I even let Adam watched TV on his own while I lost in my own world  in the kitchen! [I usually avoid doing so except if I really really had to]. Worst of all, I let it slip into my diet and I ate food I usually said no to, i.e. slices of WHITE bread with HEAVY Nutella/sugar-butter/honey spread, apple slices dip with caramel syrup, few mini Cadbury chocolate bars and many many more since then. 

And that's include this carrot cake with sweeett cream cheese frosting.. This carrot cake is fantastic. I ate the first slice right after I assembled it, another slice after the 'photoshoot' session, and as I sit here writing this down, I'm thinking about getting my third slice =p Blame on the topping.  I'm hooked to it's lemony  cream cheese topping, a great match to the  spicy aromatic nutty bites.

I had to stop doing this. This self destructing thing. I'm going to drag myself out of this house after this. After done writing this....After done with Adam's lunch..... And the laundry..... And the mopping.... After Zuhur perhaps... Will it rain? Perhaps not. 

Perhaps not going out at all...and eat more of these yummies? & throw the scale away!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Topping

{Recipe taken from Taste.com.au}

Serving:8

Yield: Refer notes below

Ingredients

• 4 (59g each) eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups (310ml) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup (330g) caster sugar
• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (100g) walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups (firmly packed) coarsely grated carrot (about 3 carrots) 

Cream-cheese icing [I 1/2 the icing ingredients]

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g pkt cream cheese, softened
• 500g icing sugar mixture, sifted
• Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
• 2 tsp lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base of tin of your choice (see notes). Whisk eggs, oil and vanilla in a jug until combined. Sift sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt into a bowl. Add oil mixture, walnuts and carrots, and stir to combine. Spoon into prepared tin, then bake on lowest shelf of oven for specified time (see notes) or until skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool cake in tin, then turn on to a wire rack.
2. Meanwhile, for the icing, usuing an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add icing sugar mixture, then add lemon rind and juice and beat until well combined.
3. Using a serrated knife, cut cake in half horizontally. Spread 1/3 the icing over base, then sandwich with top. Spread remaining icing over top. Serve.

Notes:
Depending on which tin you choose, this recipe makes one large, two medium or six small cakes.

Choosing a cake tin

1. One deep round 25cm round cake tin: preheat oven to 180°C and bake for 55 minutes, covering top of cake with baking paper after 30 minutes to prevent over-browning.
2. Two deep 20cm round cake tins: Preheat oven to 180°C and bake for 45 minutes.
3. Six 11cm springform tins: preheat oven to 180°C and bake for 25 minutes.