Carrot cake in the style of the famous carrot cake. Layered with cream cheese and coconut frosting.
Ingredients
Cake:
- Finely grated carrot, 300 g
- Pineapple (fresh or canned), drained and chopped, 100 g
- Chopped walnuts, 40 g
- Sliced almonds, 30 g
- Shredded coconut, 80 g
- All-purpose or spelt flour, 300 g
- Vanilla sugar, 1 tablespoon
- Gingerbread spice, 2 teaspoons
- Cinnamon, 1 teaspoon
- Baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons
- Baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon
- Eggs, 3
- Brown sugar, 200 g (1 cup)
- Vegetable oil, 225 ml
Frosting:
- Coconut milk (1 can, 400 ml)
- Coconut liqueur (or white rum), optional, 1/4 cup
- Sugar, 1 cup
- Philadelphia cream cheese, 375 g
- Mascarpone cheese, 250 g
Soaking:
- Rum, about 6 teaspoons per layer
Decoration:
- Walnuts, 150 g
- Raw carrot ribbons
Preparation
Frosting: Pour the coconut milk and liqueur into a pot, add sugar, and heat while stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cook over medium heat for about half an hour or longer, until a thick syrup forms, yielding about 3/4 cup. Let cool.
Place the Philadelphia cream cheese and mascarpone in a large bowl, gradually adding 1 tablespoon of the slightly warm coconut syrup at a time, stirring gently. Refrigerate the cream until it sets, keeping it there until ready to use.
Cake: Grease a 24-26 cm springform pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 150°C. In one bowl, place the carrots, pineapple, walnuts, almonds, and shredded coconut. Set aside without mixing.
In another bowl, sift the flour, add the vanilla sugar, gingerbread spice, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix everything together.
In a third bowl, beat the eggs until doubled in volume. Gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. While still beating on high speed, slowly drizzle in the oil.
Add the contents of the bowl with the carrots to the egg mixture and gently mix with a spoon or briefly blend on the lowest mixer setting until combined.
Add the contents of the bowl with the flour and gently combine the ingredients as before. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 70 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool (can be prepared the day before).
Cut the cake into 3 layers. If the layers are unevenly cut, fill in with crumbs from another part, pressing the crumbs lightly into the layers. Place the bottom layer on a cake stand, drizzle with rum, and spread 1/3 of the cream. Cover with the second layer, drizzle as before, and spread the second portion of cream. Place the last layer on top and drizzle with rum. Spread the remaining cream over the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with walnuts and refrigerate for about 3 hours or overnight until the cream sets.
Meanwhile, prepare the carrot ribbons: peel and rinse the carrot. Using a vegetable peeler, make several thin slices along the length of the carrot. Cut thinner strips from them, making a slit at the end of each strip (along the length and the same width as the strip). Thread the other end of the strip through the slit. Decorate the cake with the ribbons.
Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
