Carrot Cake with Olive Oil Frosting

When it comes to easy baking, this mix and bake carrot cake with olive oil frosting (you’ll love) is a real winner. It’s unexpectedly delicious!

A few weeks ago Arum Nixon popped by my studio kitchen to cook 10 recipes for a collaboration with Westfield Warringah Mall. One of them was this carrot cake with olive oil frosting. And I instantly fell in love with it!

The Carrot Cake

The carrot cake is a twist on the classic. It’s moist and the extra virgin olive oil gives it a gorgeous deep, nutty flavour. This way the cake is dairy-free, too. It’s fragrant and moreish. Keeps well in the fridge too!

There is nothing complicated about the recipe – it’s an easy mix and bake cake. Just be careful not to overwork the mixture – mix it until just combined.

RELATED RECIPE: Spiced Beetroot Chocolate Cake

Olive Oil Frosting

Olive oil is an awesome antioxidant-rich and flavourful substitute for butter in most cakes and frostings. Research shows that unrefined olive oil is very stable at high temperatures. This means it is perfect for baking (and frying) as well as enjoying at room temperature in frostings!

I loved the addition of extra virgin olive oil to both the cake and the frosting. It helps balance out the sweetness of both the cake and the frosting.

In fact, when we were shooting the recipes for Westfield Warringah Mall I loved the olive oil frosting so much I kept eating it with a spoon. It’s probably the fact that Arum used Cobram Estate’s cold-pressed unrefined extra virgin olive oil in the recipe.

Because it’s unrefined, it retains the beautiful light green colour that transfers to the frosting. It’s simply the best. And their new baking olive oils range that comes in vanilla, chai and orange would definitely be a good choice for the cake and frosting.

If you’d prefer to cut the amount of sugar in the carrot cake with olive oil frosting, you can. Simply use some natvia or xylitol in place of all or some of the sugars in the recipe.

Original recipe by Arum Nixon. You can find all Arum’s winter recipes on the Warringah Mall website.

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4 from 10 votes

Easy Carrot Cake with Olive Oil Frosting

The trick to a light, crumbly cake is not over-working the batter. Fold the liquid through the flour until combined, but don’t continue beating after. Work quickly and pre-line your tin, so that you can pour in the batter and bake straight away for best results.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Cooling time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

For the Carrot Cake

• 125 g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 150 g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 180 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 50 g pistachios roughly chopped

For the Olive Oil Frosting

• 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 80 g icing sugar

To serve

• 20 g pistachios roughly chopped

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line an 18cm loaf tin with baking paper.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly and combine with the olive oil. Add to the flour mix, and fold in until just combined. Add the carrot and nuts and stir until mixed through.
• Pour into the prepared cake tin, level the top and place in the centre of the oven.
• Cook for 30 - 40 minutes, until the cake is pulling away from the edges and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.
• Meanwhile, make the frosting by combining the olive oil and icing sugar in a large bowl and beating thoroughly.
• Place the cooled cake on a serving plate and cover the top with the frosting.
• Scatter the surface with the chopped pistachios to serve.

Notes

You can use some Natvia or Xylitol in place of the brown sugar and icing sugar for a reduced sugar version of the cake. 

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