Makes 10

Ingredients

For the sponge:
3 eggs
200g caster sugar
100g desiccated coconut
200g ground almonds
2tsp ground cinnamon
150g butter, melted
2 large carrots
100g pistachios, blitzed for a few seconds until finely chopped

For the cream cheese icing:
250g icing sugar
250g butter, at room temperature
500g full fat cheese

To finish:
30g pomegranate seeds or 25g pistachio nuts, chopped

Method

1 Preheat oven to 180°C.  
2 Next, grease and line 10 tall dariole moulds, or mini-muffin tins. 
3 Whisk the eggs and sugar until they are pale, thickened and light. 
4 Add the coconut, almonds and cinnamon, stir gently to combine. Next, add the melted butter, mixing lightly until fully incorporated. Fold in the carrot and pistachios, making sure everything is combined. 
5 Spoon the mixture into the moulds or muffin tins and bake in the pre-heated oven for around
15 minutes. 
6 While the cakes are in the oven, make the cream cheese icing. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to a mixing bowl with the icing sugar. Beat until the mixture becomes almost white, with no lumps of butter remaining. Add the cream cheese and mix together until fully combined. If the mix becomes
over-heated it will split, so if in doubt mix by hand. Place into a piping bag and set aside.



7 Once baked, remove cakes from the oven and cool in their tins for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. 
8 Once the carrot cakes have cooled completely, pipe a swirl of cream cheese icing on top and add a sprinkle of chopped pistachios or a few pomegranate seeds to finish.