* Cake Day 2: Carrot & Pecan Cake with Honey & Lemon Topping *

A slightly naughty take on boring old carrot cake - lots of pecans for texture without the bitterness of walnuts, and a sweetly sticky honey & lemon topping. It's all good for you, honest!

You'll need a standard round cake tin with a push-through bottom, and I highly recommend Magic Non-Stick Liner - it is your friend. Not the faintest idea where this one comes from, I remember first making it in '03 or thereabouts.

Preheat your oven to 180oC and grease your tin.

You'll need:
3oz plain flour
3oz wholemeal flour
3.5tbp baking powder
6oz brown sugar
1tsp mixed spice
6oz softened butter
3 eggs
8oz grated carrots
3oz chopped pecans
3oz raisins

Cream the butter and sugar together. Then add the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, and the eggs. When you've got a nice mix, add the carrots, raisins and pecans. Slop it all into the tin and bake for about an hour or so, again depending on your oven. Wrap in foil asap to keep the moisture in.

For the topping, to be prepared about 2hrs before eating:
6oz Philadelphia soft cream cheese
4tbsp icing sugar
2tbsp honey (a good strong one like Greek - the above uses Spanish Lemon Tree honey)
2tbsp lemon juice

Beat it all together and slop it on the top. The above pic only used 3oz icing sugar which is why it's a bit runny. Decorate with any leftover pecans. Stick it in the fridge for about 2hrs (or whatever, you know...you could just eat it straight away).

Tomorrow: Kiwi Muffins!