My carrot cake recipe is the 'best ever' thanks to 1 extra ingredient I add to the batter

There aren't many recipes more autumnal than a good old-fashioned carrot cake. Hearty, moist, and not too sweet, it's the perfect pick-me-up with a cup of tea or coffee and the rain pattering down outside. With the addition of cream cheese icing, it's truly unbeatable.

I have been told by multiple people throughout my life that I make the best carrot cake they have ever tasted and. I put this down to my secret ingredient, which I add to every carrot cake I make. This secret ingredient adds depth and texture to my cake, and it also looks pretty on top-in my opinion, the secret ingredient for carrot cake is chopped walnuts.

If you want to try my foolproof recipe for yourself, you'll need...

Ingredients

• 2 eggs

• ¾ cup canola or vegetable oil

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 1 tsp baking soda and baking powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon and mixed spice

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 ½ cups of flour

• 1 ½ cups of grated carrot (about 2 medium sized carrots)

• ½ chopped walnuts and more to decorate

• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds to garnish

For the icing:

• 50g softened butter - make sure it's soft, not just room temperature or you icing will be lumpy

• 75g cream cheese

• 1 cup of icing sugar.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 °C and combine eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla essence in a large bowl. Whisk together until mixed.

Add your baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt and mix until combined.

Fold in the flour until fully incorporated and then fold in your carrots and walnuts.

Grease or line a cake tin, pour your mix into it, and bake in the centre of the oven for 35 minutes.

Remove from the cake tin and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Once it has fully cooled, you can prepare your icing. Cut your cake in half horizontally so you have two cakes.

Put your butter and cream cheese in a bowl and whisk with an electric beater until combined. Add your icing sugar bit by bit until you achieve your desired sweetness.

Use about of the icing for the middle of the cake. Spread it across the top of one of the halves and then place the second half on top before icing the top of it.

Garnish with the remainder of your chopped walnuts. I sometimes also use pumpkin seeds.