CWA cookery judge Amanda Colwell shares her carrot cake recipe

CARROT CAKE

Cake tin preparation is very important, especially for a large, dense cake like this. 

Makes a 1.7kg cake; 12 large slices.

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/3 cup (300g) brown sugar
300ml neutral-tasting cooking oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower oil
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300g carrot, grated
110g walnuts, coarsely chopped
150g sultanas

Icing
¾ cup (120g) icing sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
300g cream cheese, softened

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C degrees. Use a 23cm round cake tin with 13cm high sides. Line it with baking paper (see tips).
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar to the flour mixture and stir to combine.
3. Whisk the oil, eggs and vanilla together in a separate bowl until well combined.
5. Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture along with the remaining ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly.
6. Scoop the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 50–60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10–15 minutes. Carefully remove it from the tin and set aside to cool completely on a wire rack.
8. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the lemon juice and cream cheese and beat until smooth. Ice the cake using a broad, flat palette knife.

RADIO BISCUITS

This recipe was passed to Amanda by her mother, Rhonda Fuller. The recipe may have come from a radio advertisement for custard powder, hence the name.

Makes 40 biscuits

1¼ cups (175g) plain flour
1/3 cup (50g) custard powder
175g butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup (50g) icing sugar

Icing
½ cup (80g) icing sugar, sifted
A few drops of peppermint or vanilla essence (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C degrees. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour and custard powder three times into a bowl to ensure the biscuits are as airy as possible.
3. Put the butter and icing sugar in a separate mixing bowl and beat using a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Gently work in the flour and mixture, finishing with a spatula to ensure the batter is thoroughly combined.
4. Form into ½ tablespoon-size balls and place them on the baking trays, leaving space between each one. (If the mixture is too soft to handle, put the bowl on the refrigerator until the mixture is cool and firm.) Use a fork dipped in flour to gently flatten the balls.
5. Bake for 15–20 minutes. Biscuits should be crisp all the way through with little change in colour. Cool on wire racks while you make the icing.
6. To make the icing, whisk the icing sugar and essence (if using) in a mixing bowl and gradually add a few drops of water until it has a thin, runny consistency. Drizzle over the cooled biscuits and allow the icing to set before serving.

BERRY JAM

Amanda’s jam tip is that using frozen fruit helps the fruit break down more easily.

Makes around six 280g jars

1kg frozen or fresh berries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated
700g white sugar

1. Put a small plate in the freezer for testing purposes. To sterilise the jars, put clean, dry jars upright in a cold oven and heat it to 180°C. Once the temperature is reached, heat for a further 10–15 minutes then turn off the oven.
2. Meanwhile, put the lids in a saucepan with cold water, bring it to the boil, then cover it with a lid and turn off the heat.
3. When letting the jam settle (step 5) remove jars from the oven. Use tongs to take lids out of the water and tap them on a clean tea towel to get most water off.
4. To make the jam, put the fruit in a large, heavy-based saucepan with 1 tablespoon of water and simmer gently for half an hour or until the fruit is soft.
5. Allow the fruit to cool until it is safe to handle and process the mixture through a mouli or food mill to separate the stalks and excess seeds. If you don’t have a mill, remove any stalks by hand.
6. Return the fruit mixture to the saucepan. Warm over medium heat and add the lemon juice and apple. When hot, add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Bring to the boil. Keep on high boil for about five minutes, stirring only occasionally to keep it from catching.
7. Test by placing a teaspoon of the jam on the chilled plate. When pushed with a finger it should wrinkle without running on the plate. If it is not set return to the heat and test every few minutes until set. The jam should not be cooked for more than 20–25 minutes.
8. Turn the heat off and let it sit for 10 minutes to settle the fruit into the jam so it won’t float to the top.
9. Use a wide-mouth funnel to fill the jars up to the bottom of the screw thread. Lightly screw the lids onto the hot jars. Tighten when cooler and safer to handle.

HONEY JOYS

After the afternoon school bus pick up, Amanda and her daughters would make these together to be shared at school the next day.

Makes 30

60g butter
¼ cup (85g) honey
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 cups (120g) cornflakes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Divide 30 paper patty pan cases between two baking trays or cupcake tins.
2. Put the butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir gently until the butter has melted and the honey is runny.
3. Put cornflakes in a mixing bowl and pour on the butter mixture. Stir gently until the cornflakes are coated in the butter mixture.
4. Spoon mixture into patty pans.
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool and set.

TIPS FOR COMPETITIONS
• Simple recipes like this are often in the children’s cooking schedules for shows as a fun introduction to competition cookery.
• Honey joys should be similar to each other in size and appearance, and neatly presented.