Carrot and Ginger Loaf

I've just seen on Facebook that today is National Carrot Cake Day (although that may be only in the USA)! It's just a coincidence that I have a carrot cake recipe to write about, as I didn't know this important day was imminent when I made the cake. If these special days are to be truly celebrated we really need advance warning that they are happening!

I chose this carrot and ginger loaf recipe as a change from my usual carrot cake recipe, and I was very pleased with it. This is really a gingerbread with added carrots, as the method shows - melting sugar, syrups and butter together is traditional for gingerbread - and the ginger flavour was warm and comforting, and well balanced against the citrus zest added. 

I used a bit less zest than specified in the recipe, as I only had half an orange and had cut about 1/3 off the lemon for other purposes, but this was still enough to be noticeable, particularly in the frosting.  I decided that I didn't want to frost the whole loaf, as in the recipe, so cut down the glacé icing by 1/3, and just covered the top of the loaf.

The use of chopped stem ginger rather than nuts or dried vine fruits also contributed to the feeling that this was a gingerbread, rather than a carrot cake, although the finely grated carrots made the texture of the loaf lighter than a traditional gingerbread.

This is definitely one to add to the 'worth repeating' list of cakes!