Upside-down carrot cake
Serves: 10
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Toby Scott
Upside-down carrot cake
We’ve turned the classic carrot cake on its head with this eye-catching upside-down recipe
Serves: 10
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
518Kcal
Fat
26gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
62gr
Sugars
45gr
Fibre
4gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.4gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our former Junior Food Editor. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our former Junior Food Editor. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 150ml rapeseed oil, plus extra to grease
- 70g natural yogurt
- 3 medium eggs
- zest of 1 orange
- 175g self-raising flour
- 200g light brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- seeds from 8 cardamom pods, ground
- 175g carrots (2 medium carrots), coarsely grated
- 60g sultanas or raisins
- 50g pecans, roughly chopped
- crème fraîche, to serve (optional)
For the glazed carrots topping
- 1 x 450g pack sweet spear or rainbow carrots (or any long, slim carrots)
- 50g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp clear honey
Step by step
Get ahead
Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Grease a deep 20cm diameter fixed-base cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
- For the topping, peel and trim the carrots. Halve any chunkier ones lengthways and place them all in a saucepan or sauté pan wide enough to hold them comfortably. Add 600ml water to almost cover, plus the caster sugar. Bring to a simmer then cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes or until just tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Remove to a kitchen paper-lined plate using a slotted spoon then arrange in the base of the prepared cake tin rounded side down, trimming to fit neatly. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of honey.
- For the cake, whisk the oil, yogurt, eggs and orange zest together in a jug. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom with a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
- Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture, along with the grated carrots, sultanas and pecans. Stir to combine then spoon over the carrots in the base of the tin.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then invert onto a serving plate or board and peel away the lining. Warm the remaining honey and brush over the carrots to glaze. Leave to cool for a further 30 minutes and serve just warm, or enjoy at room temperature. Serve with crème fraîche, if you like.
