Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Butter and line a 9 inch square pan with parchment paper.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Then, sieve it at least once (I do it thrice - especially for cakes known to result in a dense texture).Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until paler in colour and quite frothy.Next, pour in the oil and continue to beat for a few minutes.

Mix in the grated carrots, then fold in the flour mixture followed by the walnuts.

Pour the cake batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.For the frosting, it's best to have all the ingredients at room temperature first. Beat the butter until smooth ( beurre pommade - as the French say to associate it with the texture of an ointment). Next, add the cream cheese and continue to beat until smooth.

Add the flavouring, if using. And then whisk in the icing sugar.When the cake has cooled completely, frost it with the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with crushed pistachios if you like.