Carrot cake with saffron frosting
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Carrot cake with saffron frosting
Using saffron is a great way to naturally impart a yellow hue and subtle floral flavour into cake frostings. Grinding and steeping the delicate threads first is the best way to extract maximum taste and colour – a pinch goes a long way!
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Abigail Spooner
Abigail Spooner
Ingredients
- 225ml mild olive oil, plus extra to grease
- 15 cardamom pods
- 225g light brown soft sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- zest of 1 orange
- 225g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 225g peeled and coarsely grated carrots
For the saffron cream cheese frosting
- 1 pinch saffron strands
- juice of ½ orange (from the zested orange above)
- 120g unsalted butter, softened
- 150g icing sugar
- 180g full-fat soft cheese
Step by step
Use gluten-free flour and baking powder, adding 1/2 tsp xanthan gum to the mixture.
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Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease a 20cm x 30cm traybake tin with oil and line the base and sides with baking paper. Split open the cardamom pods, then finely grind the seeds using a pestle and mortar.
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Put the oil, brown sugar, eggs and orange zest in a large mixing bowl, then mix with a balloon whisk until combined. Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, then add the ground cardamom and salt. Whisk again until combined, then fold through the grated carrots. Scrape into the prepared tin and level the top.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden, risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes, then transfer the sponge to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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Meanwhile, put the saffron strands in a mortar and grind down with a pestle. Heat the orange juice in your smallest pan until steaming. Pour over the ground saffron strands, stir to combine, then transfer to a mug. Leave to soak and cool for 20-30 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another mug or small bowl.
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For the frosting, beat the butter until very pale and creamy. Sift over the icing sugar and beat for a few more minutes. Beat in the soft cheese until smooth, then gradually beat in enough of the saffron-infused orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, to give your desired colour and flavour. You may not need it all – we used 2 teaspoons for a pale-yellow frosting.
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Transfer the sponge to a serving board. Spoon the cream cheese frosting onto the sponge, swirling and spreading it to the edges. Cut into 12 squares or 14-16 fingers to serve. Leftovers will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in a cool place, or can be frozen.
