Carrot-ginger cake with cream cheese frosting

Another Hummingbird Bakery recipe that was a big hit among my friends!

What you need (12 servings):
 225g peeled and finely grated carrots
1 tbsp peeled and grated root ginger (or store-bought ginger paste)
40ml buttermilk
1 1/2 large eggs (I scrambled 2 eggs in a bowl and used approx. 3/4 of the mixture)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
175 ml vegetable oil
210g caster sugar
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
40g pecans, roasted and chopped (optional)

150g icing sugar, sifted
25g unsalted butter, at room temperature
60g cream cheese, cold

Pre-heat the oven to 170C and line a square cake tin with baking parchment.
Mix together the carrots, root ginger, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla essence, vegetable oil and sugar in a mixer until all the ingredients are well-combined.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices, then slowly beat into the carrot mixture. Stir in the chopped pecans, if using, and mix the cake batter until it's smooth and even.
Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake for approx. 30 mins.
Meanwhile, beat the icing sugar and butter together using an electric whisk or freestanding mixer on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well-mixed. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and continue beating for at least 5 mins. until the mixture is light and fluffy. (Do not overbeat as the frosting can become runny).

After the cake has completely cooled, cover the top with frosting. Cut the cake into 12 squares and serve.


NOTE:
- the cake recipe is from 'Cake Days', the cream cheese frosting recipe is from 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook' (both books are listed in the sidebar on the right!).
I halved the quantities of the original recipes to make a square 24cmx24cm cake.