If you haven't already, take your butter and cream cheese out of the fridge for your icing later.
If adding nuts, please toast them first!
Cake
Preheat your oven 180C/160°C fan and grease and line your 2lb loaf tin. I have some of these.
Whisk together your eggs and sugar until thick. About 3 minutes. Mix through your oil.
Fold through your dry ingredients. Try not to over mix.
Add your grated carrots and chopped nuts or raisins, if using.
Pour your mixture into your prepared loaf tin. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Insert a skewer to check if it's done. Wet batter - put it back in!
Leave it cool for ten minutes in your tin. Then tip it out and leave it cool on a wire rack. If it gets stuck, run a knife around the edge between the cake and the tin and give it a good bang on the bottom. Leave to cool completely before icing.
Cream Cheese Icing
Beat your butter by itself first to make sure to get rid of any lumps. Then add your cream cheese and beat again.
Add your icing sugar, lemon zest and juice and beat. Gently does it or you'll end in a puff of icing sugar. I often put a tea towel over the bowl with my hand whisk underneath to catch the sugar cloud.
Slather over the top of your cake. And decorate as you like. These are very cute .
Notes
Grate your own carrots rather than buying pre grated. Pre grated can be a bit dry.
Feel free to use all caster sugar or all brown sugar. Dark brown sugar would also work.
Make sure your icing ingredients are room temperature before using, or you'll get lumpy icing.
This cake should be stored in the fridge once iced, as the icing needs to be kept refrigerated.