Carrot and walnut cake

Instructions

• 1

  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and grease six 10x5cm/4x2in disposable rectangular moulds or a six cup muffin tin.

• 2

  To make the cake, whisk the eggs, sugar, salt and oil together in a large bowl. Add the carrots, walnuts, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon and fold in to combine.

• 3

  Spoon the batter into the moulds or muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes.

• 4

  Meanwhile, make the topping. In a bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar and pistachio paste. Add green food colouring, stirring through a drop at a time, until you get an even light-green colour. Set aside until ready to use.

• 5

  When cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and set aside to cool. When completely cool, spread the topping over the cakes.

• 6

  To decorate, massage the marzipan to soften. Set aside a third of the marzipan. Knead in the orange and a little red food colouring into the remaining marzipan until you have bright-orange ‘carrot’ colour. Mould into mini carrots. Knead the green food colouring into the reserved marzipan, mould it into carrots tops and attach them to the orange ‘carrots’.

• 7

  Place them on top of the cake and dust with cocoa powder.

• 8

  Along the top of each cake, sprinkle a line of cocoa nibs to look like soil with the green tops of the carrots sticking out.