Recipe: Carrot and Ginger Cake

One of Scotland’s best loved farm shops and cafes, Gloagburn in Perthshire, will publish its first cookbook this year, as a homage to the traditional country cooking of Scotland and a celebration of its natural larder.

Farmer’s wife and entrepreneur Alison Niven has created a book that tells the story of her family farm through classic, straightforward recipes straight from her Aga. Her family has farmed at Gloagburn for a century, diversifying in the last 20 years as the world of agriculture has changed. From its early days selling eggs at the roadside and jam at farmers’ markets, the farm now includes a thriving free-range egg business and a renowned cafe, deli and butchery.

Read our full food feature with Alison in the September issue of Scottish Field. Meanwhile, Alison shares her treasured recipe for a delicious carrot and ginger cake from her new cookbook.

‘There are not many people who dislike carrot cake, and we’ve tried out many recipes over the years. We’ve settled on this one – it’s a one-bowl, stir-and-bake recipe, and some fiery crystallised ginger is a nice addition to make it a wee bit different. You can leave the ginger out and you’ll have a very easy, regular carrot cake.’

Ingredients:

3 medium eggs

170ml sunflower oil

100g caster sugar

2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and grated

100g grated carrots

200g plain flour

80g raisins

50g walnuts

75g crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

70g runny honey

70g maple syrup

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp cinnamon

1½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp salt

For the icing:

200g full-fat cream cheese

150g icing sugar

100g butter, softened

1 tbsp orange juice (optional)

23cm springform cake tin, greased and lined

Alison’s family has farmed at Gloagburn for a century, diversifying in the last 20 yearsCredit: JJ Greig Photography.

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/130ºC fan/gas mark 1.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and sugar, then add the grated apples and carrots, flour, raisins, walnuts, crystallised ginger, honey, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking powder, spices and salt. Mix until everything is well combined and you have a sticky batter.

Scrape into your prepared tin and smooth the top, then bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin before turning out onto a plate.

For the icing, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, butter and orange juice (if you’re using it) together with an electric mixer or in a food processor. Spread evenly over the top of the cake and leave to set for 20 minutes or so before serving.

Gloagburn – Recipes from a Scottish Farm by Alison Niven (Kitchen Press) is out in September 2025. 

Read more Reviews here.

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