Happy New Year

It's the New Year. Christmas is long gone and I have only one measly cake to show for it. Two failed attempts at fruitcake and one at shortbread made me simply stop Christmas baking. My baking was a reflection of my state of mind at the time. What a year. Work, work and work, stress, frustrations and not quite as much time for baking as I would have liked. I'd like to think that things would be different this year. For the first time in years, I have some new year resolutions, so hurray for that. One of it is to bake more, and the other is to sail through life like Patsy Stone with help along the way from chilled champers!

One of the few recipes from last year which has never failed me was this. It's my take on Tish Boyle's Solid Gold Carrot Cake from The Cake Book, tweaked to suit my palate.

CARROT CUPCAKES

240g Plain Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Mixed Spice
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
Mix all together and sieve. Set aside.

200g Caster Sugar
Grated zest of 2 large Oranges
Mix this together. Set aside.

4 large Eggs

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
1 teaspoon Orange Essence

1/4 cup Full Cream Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
120g Butter, melted

200g Carrots, grated fine
100g Walnuts, chopped and toasted
A handful or two of Raisins

Beat Sugar, Eggs and both Essences with an electric mixer together until well combined. Beat in Milk, Oil and Butter. Mix well until combined. Fold in the Flour mixture gently by hand. Add Carrots, Walnuts and Raisins. Pour into cupcake cases and bake at 150 to 160 Celsius until a skewer poked through the middle comes out clean.