Cake recipes can often take a lot of effort to make, especially when it comes to carrot cakes.

However, with the right recipe, carrot cake can be ever so straightforward and take no time at all.

Many recipes demand a long list of ingredients and complex methods to achieve the perfect texture, but swapping eggs and butter for one ingredient can make for a much simpler bake.

A recipe that’s taken social media by storm uses condensed milk to whittle the cake down to just four key ingredients.

First shared on a budgeting page on Facebook, the recipe is “quick and easy”, plus “a good way to use up carrots in the fridge”, according to a blogger at Practical Parenting.

The sweetened milk acts as the perfect egg substitute and means there’s less sugar needed to balance the sponge itself.

Ingredients

Two cups self-raising flour (240g)

Two cups grated carrots (245g)

One tin of condensed milk

100g pecan nuts, walnuts or sultanas

Cream cheese frosting (optional)

60g softened butter

500g icing sugar (sieved)

250g cream cheese

80ml lemon juice

Method 

Making the cake is a breeze, all you need is a standard-sized loaf tin and a large mixing bowl.

Start by preheating the oven to 180C, then grease and line the loaf tin with baking parchment to cover the base and sides.

Next, grate the carrots and place them in a clean tea towel, fold them over and lightly squeeze out the excess moisture.

Weigh out the flour, and condensed milk then add both to the mixing bowl along with the carrots.

Mix everything to form the cake batter, then stir in the nuts or sultanas. A mixture of the two works well measure out 50g of each.

Stir them into the mixture then pour everything into the lined loaf tin. Bake for 45 minutes at 180C until a skewer comes out clean.

After baking, take the tin out of the oven and let the cake cool down. If you’re making cream cheese frosting, proceed to the next step.

Use an electric whisk to whip the cream cheese until it’s smooth, then add the softened butter and whisk for 30 seconds to a minute until they’re well mixed.

Add lemon juice and icing sugar, and keep mixing until everything is blended. Once the cake has completely cooled down, slather the frosting on top.