THIS truly is a fabulous carrot cake.

A special treat for Mother’s Day, it’s so easy to make and the taste is insanely good, made with muscovado sugar, sultanas, pecans and carrots.

All of this makes this cake stand out in the crowd with its richer flavour and a more decadent texture.

As cakes go, it’s not as healthy as my previous recipes.

But we all deserve a treat now and again and why not treat your special mum?

After all, it’s Mothering Sunday soon and what a better way to spend the day than treating your mum to a little bit of decadence and luxury?

Happy Mother’s Day!

Ingredients:

300g self raising flour

2tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of baking powder

100gm of dark muscovado sugar

100gm of light muscovado sugar

4 eggs

250ml of rapeseed oil

1 large orange zest

200gm of carrot finely grated

150gm (small bag) of pecans, chopped in half

150gm of sultanas

75gm of soft butter

Cream cheese frosting

2tbsp Dark muscovado sugar

2tbsp of golden syrup

250gm of soft cheese

Method:

Heat the oven to 150C.

Line a large cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and sugars in a large bowl and stir (omitting any lumps).

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the oil, add the sultanas and orange zest, and stir in the carrots.

Bring all the ingredients together by adding the eggs and pecan nuts, and by folding in through the flour.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake for an hour-and-a-half.

To make the frosting:

Beat the butter, sugar and syrup until soft, then add the cream cheese and beat until it resembles a silk like consistency.

Place it in the fridge to firm slightly, about an hour should be sufficient.

Once the frosting is ready, place into a piping bag and when the cake is cool to touch, pipe the frosting over the top.

I like to do a swirly pattern, but be experimental - it’s your cake, so get creative.

To add that extra bit of luxury, why not add some crushed up pecans and grated carrots to the top?

Lesley is now qualified in advanced nutrition.

This covers a variety of areas, including child nutrition, weight management, psychology and behaviour change, pre and postnatal, and nutrition for athletes, sports and fitness.

Lesley is a typical busy mum to two children.

She is now following her passion and dreams, via "Nourish" nutrition with Lesley.

Her whole ethos about food has always been to make simple, tasty and nutritious food that everyone loves - as well as feeding the tummy.

Lesley firmly believes that food is good for our mental health and well-being, in addition to keeping us nourished, of course!

At "Nourish" nutrition with Lesley, she can offer tips and advice on lifestyle nutrition maintenance, weight management coaching, child nutrition and obesity prevention and behaviour change coaching.

For more information, e-mail Lesley at poshiebeech@yahoo.co.uk

Alternatively, interested people can visit www.facebook.com/nourishnutritionwithlesley