I’m back. I have missed writing and sharing with you all and feel like I have all these pent up thoughts ready to explode. It’s been difficult get organized, focused, and back in action. For some reason it has seemed completely overwhelming! Today, I am starting – one post at a time, right?
We recently celebrated our daughter’s 4th birthday {isn’t she sweet?} and I decided to bake my first cake for the occasion! I can’t remember ever baking a cake from scratch on my own. I have made cookies and cupcakes and muffins and brownies, but never a cake. {And never a pie, either, but we’ll save that attempt for another day}.
This cake was moist, flavorful, and had one of my favorites as a star ingredient: coconut. I found this recipe online and made a couple of minor changes and I just have to say that this was the.best.cake.ever. I am not a huge cake fan, which is probably why I hadn’t ever baked one.
I will post the recipe, with the ingredients I used here for your convenience, but please note: it is not my creation, it is just simply too good not to share! Click here for more detailed pictures and instructions. I do have to warn you, this particular recipe is not allergy friendly. I didn’t make it with any substitutions to make it gluten or dairy free, although I am sure it would be fantastic prepared that way as well.
Ingredients
- 1 pound finely grated carrots
- 4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups cane sugar
- 1 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- 2 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups shredded coconut
- 1 cup golden raisins
Instructions
- Prepare two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper and oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Coarsely grate the carrots in a food processor using the grater attachment.
- Next, chop them into finer pieces with the medal blade attachment in the food processor
- Mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract and orange zest.
- Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
- Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.
- Add the finely chopped carrots, coconut, and golden raisins.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake cakes for about 30-35 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool completely in the pans on a wire rack.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together.
- To assemble the cake: Once the cakes have completely cooled, remove from the pans and peel off the parchment paper from the bottom.
- Put the cake on a cake turn table.
- With a thin serrated knife, slice off the very top of the cake by using a sawing motion.
- Then cut the cake in 2 equal layers.
- Slide the layers onto a cardboard round or any other flat surface.
- Put about 1 1/2 cups of the cream cheese icing.
- Using an offset spatula spread the frosting evenly over the surface of the first layer.
- Repeat for the rest of the layers.
- Place about 2 cups of the icing on the top of the cake and spread evenly.
- Spread the icing onto the sides of the cake.
- Lift the cake off the turn table and place on the serving platter.
- Using the spatula spread the frosting and create swirls on the cake.
- Press coconut onto the sides and sprinkle the top.{Note: I don't have any fancy cake decorating tools/equipment, so I just place the cake on a large plate and frosted it using the back of a large spoon :)}
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