Carrot cake is a treat, but it can be disappointing when it comes out of the oven soggy or collapsed. However, there's a simple trick to bake it perfectly. If your cake is too greasy and wet, Sally McKenney, a baker and founder of Sally's Baking Addiction, says it's "pretty easy" to fix by adding apple sauce to the batter. She explained: "To prevent the cake from tasting too moist (wet) and oily, I add some apple sauce. You could even use crushed pineapple, too! These flavours pair beautifully with brown sugar and spices.".

It might sound odd, but apple sauce substitutes for fat and adds the right amount of moisture to a cake without needing an excessive amount of butter or oil. Apple sauce also acts as a binder, holding the dry ingredients together so the dish stands taller and won't collapse while cooking. However, if your carrot cake is coming out dry and crumbly, the solution is to add more brown sugar to your cake batter.

Sally advised: "I've come across a lot of carrot cake recipes that are sweetened with mostly granulated sugar. That's great, but granulated sugar doesn't do much for the cake besides sweeten it. Brown sugar not only sweetens cake, it produces so much flavour and moisture. It's just... the best!". Brown sugar contains molasses, which alters the texture of the cake by adding more moisture while it cooks in the oven, making it more tender and preventing it from drying out, reports the Express.

The beauty of brown sugar is that it enhances the taste, giving a richer and more caramel-like flavour, which pairs perfectly with the natural sweetness of carrots. To make the cake:. To make the cream cheese frosting:. Start by preheating your oven to 180C. Grease two cake tins and line them with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil eggs, vanilla extract and apple sauce. Stir until there are no lumps of brown sugar left.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add in the spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves) and stir until well combined. Pour the first sugary mixture into the dry ingredients with the spices. Add the grated carrots and fold everything together until it's all mixed in. Divide the batter evenly between the cake tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. To check if they're done, insert a toothpick into the centre of the cakes. If it comes out clean, they're ready.

Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool completely in the tins. Make sure they're fully cooled before you start on the frosting. For the frosting, put the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Beat until smooth, then add the sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Mix everything together until you have a creamy frosting. If it's too thin, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add some milk. If it's too sweet, add a little more salt.