Carrot cake

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For the cake:
225g (8oz) butter, softened
225g (8oz) soft light brown sugar
4 eggs, separated
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
50g (2oz) ground almonds
115g (4oz) pecans, chopped chunkily
350g (12oz) carrots, peeled and grated

For the icing:
40g (1½oz) softened butter
40g (1½oz) cream cheese
25g (1oz) icing sugar
50g (2oz) soft light brown sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon juice
pecan nuts to decorate


Method
Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin and preheat the oven to 180°c (gas mark 4).
Whisk the softened butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and then add the lemon zest and juice. Sieve the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the bowl, making sure you add all the bran left in the sieve when you have finished. Fold this gently into the mixture. Stir in the ground almonds and the pecan nuts.
In a very clean bowl and using very clean whisks beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add one-third of the egg white to the cake mix and mix in well. Add the carrots and mix in well.  Fold in the remaining egg white very carefully to keep as much air as possible.
Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake on the middle shelf for 1 to 1½ hours until golden and firm to the touch.  I baked mine in the baking oven of my Aga and it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook, so do check at 1 hour and then keep checking.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for ten minutes and then remove to a cake rack and leave to cool completely.
To make the icing, mix the butter and the cream cheese until really well combined.  Add the icing sugar and the soft light brown sugar and beat well until smooth, stir in the grated lemon zest and the lemon juice.
Spread on top of the cake and decorate with pecan nuts.