Carrot Cake with Blood Orange EVOO

by Mike Case

Ingredients: 

Cake Batter 

2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour 

1 ½ tsp (6g) baking powder 

1 ½ tsp (9g) baking soda 

1 tsp (5g) salt 

2 tsp (6 g) cinnamon 

½ tsp (2 g) nutmeg 

1/8 tsp allspice 

200oz (540ml) crushed pineapple (drained) 

4 eggs 

1 cup (200g) brown sugar 

½ cup (100g) sugar 

1 cup (250ml) Awesome Olive Blood Orange Olive Oil 

3 cups (350g) finely grated carrot (about 4 med carrots) 

Cream Cheese Frosting  

 2- 8oz pkg cream cheese (room temp) 

½ cup unsalted butter (room temp) 

2 tsp vanilla 

3-4 cups Icing (confectioners) sugar* 

Decoration (optional) 

Sprinkle top edge of cake with crushed Skor bar** or pecan pieces 

 

 

 

Instructions  

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9” (23cm) round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. 
  • Cake Batter - In a medium sized bowl mix or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Set aside. 
  • In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl add eggs with both sugars and mix with hand blender or with paddle attachment of stand mixer until creamy and lighter in colour. Add the Blood Orange EVOO and pineapple, mix until well combined.  
  • Gently mix or fold in the flour/spice mix in 3 separate stages making sure there are no dry spots of flour. 
  • Using a rubber spatula gently mix in the grated carrots. 
  • Pour batter evenly into the 2 pans. 
  • Bake for about 30-35 mins until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let pans cool on a cooling rack for 10mins then remove cakes from the pans and let cool completely on racks. 
  • Cream Cheese Frosting - While the cakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. Using a hand blender or stand mixer (paddle attachment) beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time on low to start, once well mixed beat on high for about 10 seconds or so, after 3 cups check that you have the desired consistency (if you want to thicken add last cup a bit at a time). Finally add the vanilla and beat until fluffy. 
  • Assembly – If needed level top each cake layer with a serrated knife or cake leveller. Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread an even thick layer of frosting to the top of the cake layer. Place the second cake layer on top of the frosted first layer. Spread the sides and top of the cake with remaining frosting. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 
  • Decorate (optional) sprinkle top edge with crushed skor bar or pecan pieces.  

*Start with 3 cups of icing sugar and use 4th cup if needed. 

**Most bulk stores carry broken skor bars, crush in a large zip lock bag with rolling pin, rubber mallet or flat side of a meat tenderizer. 

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