Spiced carrot & sultana muffins

Using carrots from Anika & Jon's vegetable patch! Extra yummy :)

Verdict: so good! The actual recipe was for a carrot cake, but it worked as muffins really well!

Ingredients:

175g light muscovado sugar

175ml sunflower oil

3 large eggs , lightly beaten

140g grated carrots (about 3 medium)

100g raisins

grated zest of 1 large orange

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated will give you the best flavour)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/fan 160C. Oil and line the base and sides of an 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment, or put muffin cases in a muffin tray.

2) Tip the sugar into a large mixing bowl, pour in the oil and add the eggs. Lightly mix with a wooden spoon.

3) Stir in the grated carrots, raisins and orange rind.

4) Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices, then sift into the bowl. Lightly mix all the ingredients - when everything is evenly amalgamated stop mixing. The mixture will be fairly soft and almost runny.

5) Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes, until it feels firm and springy when you press it in the centre. Or, if you're making muffins, bake for 25 minutes (ish).

6) If making a cake, cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. If making muffins, leave for a few minutes and then cool on a wire rack.