Ingredients

Method

For the sponge:
• 6 free-range eggs
• 650 g brown sugar
• 2 cups canola oil
• 350 g cake flour
• 1 1⁄2 t baking powder
• 1 1⁄2 t bicarbonate of soda
• 1 1⁄2 t cinnamon
• 1⁄2 t nutmeg
• 1⁄2 t salt
• 450 g carrots, grated
• 100 g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 1⁄2 cup Woolworths pineapple pieces in light syrup, crushed
For the icing:
• 250 g Woolworths plain full-cream cream cheese
• 1⁄2 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1⁄2 ClemenGold, zested
• 100 g icing sugar
For the honeycomb:
• 1⁄2 T butter
• 200 g caster sugar
• 5 T golden syrup
• 2 t bicarbonate of soda

Method

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease 2 x 20 cm greased springform cake tins.

Place the eggs and sugar into a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy, then gradually add the oil while whisking.

Sift in all the dry ingredients and gently fold into the mixture.

Add the remaining ingredients and fold through, taking care not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the cake tins and bake for 60–70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the cake tins.

To make the icing, whisk all the ingredients until smooth. Adjust the consistency with more juice if necessary.

To make the honeycomb, grease a large baking tray with butter and set aside. Heat the sugar and syrup in a deep saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has melted.

Increase the heat and simmer until the mixture turns amber, then off turn the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda while mixing with a wooden spoon until foaming.

Immediately transfer the foaming mixture into the prepared baking tray and allow to cool and set.

Remove the cakes from the tins, wrap one in clingwrap and freeze. Ice the other layer and decorate with crushed honeycomb.

Cook's note: This cake freezes well, so I always bake two and if I don’t need both immediately, make half the quantity of icing to ice just one of them and freeze the second cake for later on – it’s also delicious warm with ice cream.

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