The Cake Doctor

Dear Cake Doctor

My girlfriend wants to buy a house and move in with me. We’re a perfect match, but I just can’t bring myself to commit. After ten years together she’s frustrated and can’t see why I won’t settle down. Why can’t I just stay young and carefree forever?

Peter Pan

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Dear Peter Pan

While I can’t tell you whether committing to your girlfriend’s a good idea, I do have a cake that might help your short-sightedness by easing the tension between you and helping you talk over your fear of commitment. It’s well known that carrots contain vitamins that promote eye health, so carrot cake would seem to be the perfect prescription!

Grate out your frustrations as you prepare the carrots and beat the wet ingredients together, then take some deep breaths as you fold in the dry ones and use the time it takes to bake to reflect on what you want now, next year and in five years’ time, as the delicious (albeit distracting) smell of baking cake wafts through your kitchen.

There’s always the risk that baking her such a moreish cake will make you even more desirable long term – who wouldn’t want to lock down guaranteed home-baked cakes? But this presciption’s my very favourite, and also likely to be hers – you might even be able to convince her to give up the idea of cohabitation in exchange for regular carrot cake deliveries…

Love,

The Cake Doctor x

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Complaint: short-sightedness

Prescription: carrot cake

Ingredients

For the cake

190g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs, at room temperature

225ml vegetable oil

330g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

about 4 medium carrots

For the frosting

55g unsalted butter at room temperature (or, fridge cold, zapped in the microwave for 30 seconds)

110g cream cheese at room temperature

250g icing sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Lightly butter the base and sides of a large round cake tin and line with baking paper.

Peel the carrots and then grate until you have about 3 tea cups full of grated carrot.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in to a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla extract  in another, large bowl, and beat with a freestanding electric mixer, a handheld electric whisk, or just a wooden spoon until increased slightly in volume and paled a little in colour.

Now, remove the bowl from the mixer, or set aside the handheld whisk or wooden spoon.

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and fold in gently.

Then, add the grated carrots and mix gently until thoroughly incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the cake has come away from the edges of the tin and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cake has cooled, make the cream cheese frosting.

Place the butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and beat with a freestanding electric mixer, a handheld electric whisk, or just a wooden spoon. Beat just until the frosting is smooth and creamy, but don’t beat for too long or it will become liquidy and difficult to keep on the top of your cake!

Now, spread on just the top, or the top and sides of your cake, and wait for the magic to happen. Good luck!

Love,

The Cake Doctor x