Carrot Cake Bars

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 20 × 30 cm baking tin with parchment, leaving a little overhang so you can lift the cake out later.
2. Tip the butter into a large mixing bowl with the sugar and whisk for a minute until smooth. Add the eggs, one by one and vanilla and whisk again until the mixture thickens and lightens.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, except the carrots and walnuts. Fold this into the butter mixture just until combined. Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts.
4. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin, smooth the top, and bake for 25–30minutes, until set in the middle. A skewer should come out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter.
5. Beat the soft butter until pale, then add the cream cheese and beat briefly — just until smooth. Fold in the icing sugar, citrus zest, and salt. Be careful not to over-beat as this can make the icing mixture lose its thickness.
6. Spread the icing generously over the cooled cake, Chill for 20 minutes before slicing into 16 bars. ‍

Optional: try adding chopped walnuts or pecans for extra crunch, or substituting 1 of the carrots with a parsnip

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