Marrow & pecan cake with maple icing

By Barney Desmazery from the BBC Good Food magazine

Pam used walnuts instead of pecans (100g of walnuts and 100g of raisins) and made a cream cheese frosting with icing sugar and orange juice (as for carrot cake).

Preparation time 25 mins. Cooking time1 hr and 20 mins. Easy

Ingredients
250ml sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
300g self-raising flour
3 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp baking powder
250g light soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
Finely grated zest and juice 1 orange
300g marrow flesh, coarsely grated and squeezed of any liquid
200g pecans, roughly chopped


For the icing
50g butter, softened
250g cream cheese
4 tbsp maple syrup

(Or mix together 50g softened butter, 50g sifted icing sugar and juice of half an orange until smooth. Add 110g full fat cream cheese and mix until combined.)


Method
1.	Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 22cm round springform cake tin with baking parchment. 
2.	Sift the flour, spice and baking powder into a bowl and crumble in the sugar. 
3.	In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the orange zest and juice, then pour in the oil. 
4.	Add the marrow and 150g of the pecans to the oil mixture, then beat into the flour until combined. 
5.	Tip into the cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 1 hr 20 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. 
6.	Leave to cool for 30 mins in the tin before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
7.	While the cake is cooling, make the icing by beating all the ingredients together. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the icing over the top. Sprinkle over the rest of the pecans to decorate and serve.