Nutty carrot & cream cheese cake

January 27, 2014Leave a comment

Carrot cake is such an understated and unpretentious cake – but done right and it is a magnificent and heavenly treat. It should be light and fluffy, yet ‘solid’, filled with crunchy pecan nuts and layers of cream cheese frrrrosting…

It’s also a cake that I’ve never made before – yes I love to eat it, it’s one of my all-time faves, I’ve just never made it.
So, I decided to make it a few weeks ago for our dinner guests – we had so many carrots from the garden and it seemed the perfect time to give it a go! I used a recipe from my all-time Domestic-Goddess-Hero – the one and only, Martha Stewart. {Ha – you thought I was going to say Nigella..! Nope, I love her too, but Martha will always be the best!}

The cake was to-die-for, BUT I somehow tried to remove one layer from the baking tin too soon and ended up with a bit of a lopsided cake…

So… I made another batch! This time round, I made a small cake and 10 cupcakes. {I was planning on making cupcakes for my husband, decorated especially for his Xterra triathlon event, so I just decided to make carrot cupcakes instead.}

The result – 10 yummy scrummy carrot cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and finished off with fondant icing with the Xterra logo and some fun pics:

The cake also came out really well – perfect size for a small family – enrobed in deliciously rich and fluffy cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans:

You will need:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda {bicarbonate of soda}
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
340g butter, at room temp, plus extra for the pans
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
450g grated carrots {8-10 medium carrots}
2 cups pecan nuts {1 cup finely chopped for the batter, 1 cup coarsely chopped for the outside of the cake}

Start off by pre-heating the oven to 175C and preparing your pans:
Butter, line with baking paper and butter again {only the bottoms} 3x 23cm cake pans; OR if you want some cupcakes too, prepare 2x 15cm cake pans and 10x cupcake cases.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg – set aside.
Beat the butter and sugars in a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one and mix well after each addition. Add the vanilla, water and carrots – mix well.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and then the pecans.
Make sure everything is well incorporated and divide between pans.
If you are making the large cake with 3 layers, bake for approx 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the smaller, 2 layer cake, bake for approx 45 minutes {until toothpick comes out clean}.
Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes.

For the frosting:
250g butter, at room temp
250g cream cheese, at room temp
3 cups icing sugar

Mix together until light and fluffy.

To assemble:
Using a serrated knife, carefully trim the rounded top off one of the cakes. Use that one on the bottom and spread a decent layer of frosting on top. Place the other layer on top and cover the top and sides of the entire cake with frosting. Cover the sides of the cake with the rest of the pecans.

If you’re making cupcakes, you can either just pipe the frosting on as you normally would, or, to make a fondant outer, first spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting on top of the cupcake, then cover with fondant and decorate as you want.

Enjoy! X

Another pumpkin-goodie: Pumpkin cheesecake roll

November 30, 2013Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving y’all, to all my American readers! This time of year, everything is pumpkin-themed, flavoured and inspired.. I must say, pumpkin cakes and things are not very big here in SA, although I’m sure it’s starting to take off. Pumpkin’s friend, Mr Carrot is much more popular with us Afrikaner folk! {Although a ‘pampoen koekie’ is quite traditional!}

Anyways, I was assigned to bring cake to my son’s playgroup this week and I decided to make a pumpkin roll. I’ve been wanting to make this and just haven’t gotten round to doing it – and it was surprisingly simple and easy to do. {And did I mention quick?! I quickly whipped it up the morning it was due.}

You will need the following for the batter:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda {baking soda}

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice {mix cinnamon, mixed spice & a pinch of nutmeg}

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar {I used a light brown sugar}

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Mix the eggs and sugar together until it is nice and thick & creamy. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour the batter into a shallow, rectangular pan lined with baking paper AND greased with butter. Bake at 190C for about 15min.

When this is baked {a toothpick should come out clean when inserted}, invert onto a tea towel sprinkled with icing sugar. Gently peel off the baking paper and roll with the tea towel. Leave it to cool all rolled-up.

You will need the following for the filling:

1 tub of cream cheese {230g}

3 tbs butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Whip the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy, add icing sugar and vanilla.

When the cake has cooled, gently unroll, spread the filling onto the cake and sprinkle with the nuts. Carefully roll it back up again and wrap it tightly in cling wrap. Refridgerate for at least an hour before serving. Dust it with some more icing sugar when serving.

Enjoy! X

Pumpkin Season in the Vissers household…

November 7, 2013November 15, 2013Leave a comment

Yes – it’s pumpkin season! Well, in the US in any case, but also here at our house in the Southern Hemisphere. {And seeing as half my family lives in the States, I think it’s quite appropriate that we have our own little pumpkin season to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.}

The Jack-o-lanterns from Halloween have not suffered in vain – no, they have been up-cycled into baby food, Moroccan meatloaf {yesterday} and scrummy cheesecake-stuffed cupcakes {today}. But don’t fear – there will be plenty more pumpkin dishes popping up over the next few days, as I have a LOT of pumpkin purée!

I found a really yummy recipe for pumpkin cupcakes on Pinterest at:

http://www.silvanaskitchen.com/gluten-free-cheesecake-filled-pumpkin-cupcakes/

{Mine are not gluten-free; if you’re going to have a cupcake, have it properly with all the gluten in tact! Unless of course you are gluten-intolerant and the only way to have your treat is to substitute with a GF option…}

Anyways – drifting off topic again – here is the recipe:

For the cream cheese mixture:

1 tub of cream cheese {230g at room temperature}

1/2 a cup of icing sugar

1 egg white

1/2 a tsp of vanilla

Whisk the cream cheese and sugar and add the egg white. Whisk until fluffy and add the vanilla. Whisk some more until everything is mixed.

For the pumpkin batter:

1 1/2 cups of flour {normal, gluten-free, whatever you prefer}

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice {use equal parts cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg}

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of puréed pumpkin

2 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1/2 a cup of melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, egg, sugar, butter and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake cases.

Fill the cases: one spoonful pumpkin batter, one spoonful cheesecake mix, another spoonful pumpkin batter. The cases should be almost full, but not quite to the top.

Bake for 25 minutes until cooked. A toothpick will come out clean.

For the frosting:

1 cup yellow sugar {or brown, but the yellow adds some nice colour.}

4 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

230g butter {chilled and cubed}

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix the egg whites, sugar and salt and whisk over a pot of simmering water until the sugar has melted. Remove from the water and continue to whisk at high speed until it reaches room temperature.

Add the butter, one cube at a time while whisking, until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.

Transfer to a piping bag with a large round nozzle and pipe large swirls onto the cooled cupcakes.

{I think I will bake these a lot just to get that ‘American’ smell wafting through the house! It’s just the best smell and so typically ‘American Holiday’, it will always fill me with nostalgia.}

A must-bake – enjoy!

bespoke + custom cakes + cupcakes for special occasions

Tag: cream cheese

Nutty carrot & cream cheese cake

Another pumpkin-goodie: Pumpkin cheesecake roll

Pumpkin Season in the Vissers household…