I LOVE snacking on nuts of all types, and regularly also include them in cooking, particularly in salads, or as a last-minute addition to a stir-fry.

The crunch makes all the difference.

One of the most versatile nuts is the walnut.

Walnuts are used in desserts, cakes and confectionery as well as in many savoury dishes such as soups, sauces, stews and salads, including the well-known Waldorf salad.

They are also pickled for serving with cold meats and cheeses - they go particularly well with blue cheese - or for adding to hearty stews.

Walnut oil has a strong nutty flavour, which is excellent when used on fish, steaks, pasta or salad.

It's not suitable as a cooking oil however, and you should go easy with the quantity you use as it can easily overpower a dish.

It is best to store walnut oil in the refrigerator to prevent it from becoming rancid.

If refrigeration causes the oil to solidify, it can be restored to a liquid state by leaving it at room temperature for an hour or two.

The mixture for this cake (below) is quite liquid as it goes into the tin.

To avoid spillage on to the base of the oven, I suggest the aluminium foil wrap, as outlined in the method following.

It's a rich, filling cake that can double as afternoon tea or a dessert.

CARROT AND WALNUT CAKE

  • 125g plain flour, sifted
  • 1 tspn salt
  • 1 tspn baking powder
  • 1 tspn baking soda
  • 3 eggs
  • 190g sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cups grated carrot
  • 370g raisins
  • 250g walnuts, toasted (see right) and chopped

Preheat oven to 180C. Prepare a 23cm springform tin with a light coating of butter.

Mix the flour with the salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Beat the eggs. Add the sugar and oil while still beating. Add the flour mixture. Continue beating until you get a smooth batter.

Stir in carrots, raisins and chopped walnuts.

Turn into the prepared tin. Set the tin on a sheet of aluminium foil, cupping edges up around pan slightly, if pan has a removable bottom. Bake for 50-60 minutes, testing with a metal skewer; if the skewer comes out of the cake clean, the cake is done. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.

When the cake is cold, remove from the tin and spread with cream cheese icing. I love to allow the icing to drip down the sides of the cake. Decorate with lime zest.

CREAM CHEESE ICING

  • 225g cream cheese
  • 110g butter
  • 1 1/2 tspns vanilla essence
  • 1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Cream all ingredients together until smooth. Spread on to the top of the cake. Decorate with lime zest.