Carrot cake is so commonplace, you see it everywhere. But not all carrot cakes are created equal. What separates the truly exceptional from the mediocre is the moistness and luxuriousness of the cake. Every time I bake this cake, I make sure I use quality ingredients and give it my undivided attention, so as to not overbake it.
This recipe is a combination of several that I have tried and tested, and it’s worth its weight in gold!

Here’s what goes in:

2 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon each of allspice, nutmeg and ginger
2 cloves, crushed
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 quarter cup of apricot jam, melted
The zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
2 cups of grated carrot
1 cup of crushed pineapple, drained
Half a cup of pecan nuts, chopped

How to do it:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and grease and line a Bundt tin with a diameter of approximately 23cm. In a cake mixer, blend the eggs and sugar together until they are thick and pale yellow in colour. Add the oil and melted apricot jam and stir well.
Mix in the dry ingredients and then add the carrot, pineapple, orange zest and pecan
nuts. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, but once you’re halfway through, regularly
check the carrot cake by inserting a skewer to ensure that it is neither raw nor drying out.

While the cake is baking, prepare your cream cheese icing. Once your cake is ready, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool completely before icing.

For the cream cheese icing:
250g firm cream cheese
250g butter, softened
3 cups of icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence