Castella-style Carrot Cake

Directions

1. 1
   Line the bottom of a cake tin with parchment paper (actually I've used printer paper here) and grease the edges of the tin with plenty of margarine.
2. 2
   Sprinkle lightly with cake flour.
3. 3
   Separate the egg yolks from egg whites.
4. 4
   Sieve the bread flour.
5. 5
   Soften the honey for 10-20 seconds in the microwave.
6. 6
   Preheat the oven to 160-170C (adjust to your oven).
7. 7
   Whisk the egg whites with an electric hand mixer and add the sugar to it in 2-3 goes to make a firm meringue (refer to
8. 8
   Add the egg yolks to the mixture from Step 3 and whisk well.
9. 9
   Add the grated carrot, milk, honey and vegetable oil into the mixture in that order, whisking in after each addition.
10. 10
    Fold the strong bread flour into the mixture from Step 4 with a spatula.
11. 11
    Quickly pour the mixture into the cake tin.
12. 12
    Lightly drop the pan onto a surface from roughly 10 cm to remove any excess air bubbles.
13. 13
    (You only need to do this once.
14. 14
    If you drop it too much, you risk damaging the batter and the cake won't rise properly).
15. 15
    Even out the surface of the mixture and bake for 40-50 minutes at 160-170C.
16. 16
    It should look like this when fully baked!
17. 17
    !
18. 18
    If you leave the cake to cool in the tin it has tends to shrink, so use a knife to separate it from the edges of the tin and take the cake out to cool.
19. 19
    (It's also fine to tip the cake out upside down onto a sheet of parchment paper.)
20. 20
    Once cooled, place the cake in a vinyl bag or wrap it with cling film to store and prevent it from drying out.
21. 21
    Sift some icing sugar on top to finish the cake!
22. 22
    It's so fluffy!
23. 23
    If you can, serve the next day.