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Blood orange, carrot and hazelnut cake

This blood orange, carrot and hazelnut cake is perfect for the holiday season - for Halloween serve it with cream cheese frosting and add spooky eyes or a spider web; for Thanksgiving & Christmas decorate it with boozy caramelized orange segments; for Valentine’s day decorate it with heart-shaped icing. Or just decorate it any way you’d like. The cake is moist, dairy-free and gluten-free flour can be used too. To make it vegan, use flax-eggs.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 12 people
Cuisine: British
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 blood oranges
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 2 cups of self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • ½ tsp cinnamon powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5 Tbsp muscovado sugar
  • 3 Tbsp runny honey
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped roasted hazelnuts

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease the inner side and base of a medium spring-form tin. Line the base with parchment paper.
  2. Zest one orange, then juice it. Juice the other orange too. Scoop out any reaming flesh and cut this into small bits.
  3. Put the raisins in the juice and set aside.
  4. Grate the carrots.
  5. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then add the oil and honey. Combine, then add spices and mix again.
  6. Stir in the carrots, orange zest & flesh and the raisins with the juice.
  7. Sift the flour & baking powder into the mixture and fold gently until just combined.
  8. Add the chopped hazelnuts and fold through.
  9. Tip the mixture into the prepared cake tin, then bake for 25–30 minutes in the middle of the oven.
  10. When an inserted skewer comes out clean and the top of the cake is golden, remove the cake from oven and rest for 5 minutes.
  11. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let it cool completely.
  12. Whilst the cake is cooling, you can make icing using more blood oranges, or frosting with cream cheese or just decorate it with caramelised orange rings/segments.