Olive Oil Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

175ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
375g (1 3/4 cups) caster sugar
3 organic eggs, beaten
17g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
3/4 tsp salt
90g (3/4 cup) chopped pecans or walnuts
375g (12oz) carrots, grated

For the (optional) mascarpone icing:

125g (1 stick) butter softened
250g (1 cup) mascarpone
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
250g (2 cups) confectioner's sugar


Method:

Heat the oven to 160 C (325 F) Gas 3. Butter a 24 cm (9 1/2 inch) springform cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.

Put the olive oil, sugar and eggs in a bowl and mix well to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and salt in another bowl and make a well in the center. Add the egg and oil mixture and mix in until evenly combined. Fold in the chopped nuts and grated carrots.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake until a skewer inserted at an angle into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and a half. Keep an eye on the cake during baking, especially after the first 50 minutes, as you may need to cover the tin with a baking sheet to stop the top getting too brown.
When the cake is ready, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely in its tin.

Make the mascarpone icing- with a rubber spatula, beat the butter, mascarpone and vanilla together until creamy. Sift over the confectioner's sugar and fold into the creamy mixture until completely smooth.

Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then unmold. Spread the mascarpone icing on top of the carrot cake, swirling it decoratively.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

(recipe from Celia Brooks Brown)