Walnut Carrot Cake

This is a simple recipe for a lovely walnut carrot cake that I just made. Of course, carrot cakes taste much better if the flour is light and fluffy. To make the cake extra "light", my grandma told me to measure the amount of flour needed and put it in a tray and leave it in the sun for a few hours. If you don't have the luxury of sun, then pop it in the oven for a few minutes (5 min on low temperature).

Ingredients:

• Walnuts, crushed (use half for filling and half for topping)
  
• Half a carrot, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 a block of butter (250g/ 1 cup)
  
• 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour [better if self-raising flour]
  
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp ground cinammon
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 1/2 cup milk
  

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, blend butter and sugar together until creamy. (some bits of sugar may be hanging around, don't worry about it).
2. Sift flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, alternating with the sifted ingredients to ensure steady texture of the batter. Add coffee powder and cinnamon.
4. The batter must not be too dry or too wet. When you pick up the batter with a spoon and tip it slightly, the batter will fall smoothly into the bowl
5. If the batter is too dry, add milk slowly while stirring until desired texture.
6. Using a spoon or spatula, mix in the shredded carrots and crushed walnuts.
   
7. Pour the batter in an average sized cake tin (normally 9x9 inch). Sprinkle the rest of the walnuts on top of the cake.
   
8. Bake for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.

Note! Add as much walnuts as you like as it is your cake! The more the better, of course at a bigger cost. Also, don't overdo it as you want more cake than nuts really! :)

Most cakes have other spices put in the cake such as nutmeg etc, but I don't really like the smell. If you want you could add that but I personally think that coffee has the best fragrance. ^^