Week 4 - Carrot Cake

Faff Factor = 7

Bake = 5

Keeping up Appearances = 8

Result = 20/30

OK, so in theory this should of been a tray bake using Pistachio's but Mary said they could be substituted for Walnuts.  I also made this into a cake and not a tray bake as per the book (sorry Mary).  As the cake was for my mum's birthday I decided to tart it up a little bit so tried my hand at piping roses on the top with a sprinkle of walnuts.  I think it looks rather lush.

I am not a lover of carrot cake but I have been reliably informed that it tasted good so I have given it a score of 5 (this is for the cake only).  The mixing of this cake was fab, after weighing all the ingredients you just place them into one bowl and mix.  Simple. 

However, the cream cheese frosting, oh my did that go wrong!  Sorry Mary the recipe was way to running to coat my cake (and it didn't taste right either) so I had to go out to the shops to buy more ingredients to make another batch. I then decided to use a tried and tested recipe from the Hummingbird bakery book as I did not want another disaster! I was relieved when this came together beautifully. BUT, I have been told it was very sweet and can only surmise that Tate & Lyle Icing sugar is sweeter than Silver Spoon.  I'm wondering if anyone else agrees with me?

I may try this again making the tray bake as suggested for a cake sale at work one week as it was very easy to put together.

It's my choice to choose from the book next week and if time allows I may have a go at making a loaf of bread or a pastry.  I need to push myself out of my comfort zone pretty soon.

And here's the birthday girl tucking into a nice slice with a cuppa.  Happy 74th birthday Mum Xx.

Off for a cuppa myself.  See you all soon.
Lynetta Xx