Ethical Carrot Cake

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

400g (15 oz.) unsalted butter
700g (24 oz.) refined sugar
rind and juice of 2 oranges, grated (or a tablespoon of marmalade)
4 large free range eggs
1 kg carrots, grated
150 g dried fruit or chopped nuts

2 tbsp vanilla essence
500 g cake flour
4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp salt

Here's How:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F temperature.
2. Grease an 11 or 12 inch spring-form cake tin.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy.
4. Slowly add the eggs, beating well to incorporate each addition fully before adding more. Eggs can vary a lot in size, so if the mixture looks quite liquid after adding three eggs, don’t bother with the last one.
5. Fold in the grated carrot and chopped fruit/nuts.
6. Add the vanilla essence and orange bits or marmalade.
7. Finally, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spice and salt together, then fold into the cake mixture.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared spring-form tin and bake in the preheated oven for about an hour. The sides of the cake should be coming away from the sides of the cake tin and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. If the cake looks quite done on the outside but is still dribbly in the middle, turn the oven heat down a bit, and leave it for another twenty minutes. It should then cook more slowly but more evenly throughout.