Carrot, Apricot & Pumpkin Seed Cake
By Edinburgh Larder

 Double these amounts for a two layer cake or you can make a standard sized loaf cake with this amount.
 
Ingredients
1 cup / 8oz sugar
¾ cup / 6fl oz rapeseed oil
2 eggs
1 ½ cups grated carrot
1 cup / 4oz plain or wholemeal flour (or a mix of both)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup / 4oz chopped dried apricots
½ cup / 2oz pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
 
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C, line and grease cake tin (I use two 8 inch tins for a double layer cake or a standard loaf tin for a single cake).
2. Beat the sugar and oil together till well mixed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well, then add the grated carrot and mix well.
3. Sift the dry ingredients together, place the apricots, pumpkin seeds and orange rind in a separate bowl and sift the flour mixture over them, mix well then fold this into the sugar-carrot mixture mixing lightly but thoroughly.  Spoon into the tin.  Bake for 32 – 40 mins then cool on a rack.  
4. If you want to ice this cake, you will need 3 tubs of cream cheese mixed with enough icing sugar and orange zest to taste.   At the Edinburgh Larder they use a minimal amount of icing sugar so the icing isn’t too sweet but this can be done to taste at home. Beat the ingredients together with a whisk in a mixing bowl until smooth. If you would like to thin down the icing a little bit, use a bit of freshly squeezed orange juice.