The ultimate carrot cake awaits you. Moist, creamy and simply delicious. This carrot cake incorporates classic elements (carrot biscuit and cream cheese frosting) with new additions to enhance the flavour (carrot-orange crémeux and caramelised white chocolate glaze with almonds). If you want to pimp your classic carrot cake, this is your go to recipe.
Special material requirements
Travel cake form with tubular insert (mine is 60 x 250 x 60 mm)
Nozzle (I use Wilton 1M)
Leaf tuile silicone mould
Piping bags
Recipe
Yield: approx. 8 servings | Difficulty: medium
Ingredients
Carrot cake
170g carrots
115g brown sugar
85g flour
2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp neutral oil
1 1/2 tbsp carrot juice (unsweetened)
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
zest of 1 orange
Carrot-orange crémeux
50g carrot juice (unsweetened)
50g fresh orange juice
35g butter
3/4 tbsp sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 gelatine sheet
zest of 1/2 orange
Caramelised white chocolate glaze
300g caramelised white chocolate
40g neutral oil
55g almonds (preferably without skin)
Cream cheese frosting
50g cream cheese (cold)
25g heavy cream (cold)
15g powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Carrot tuile
2 1/2 tsp neutral oil
2 tsp carrot juice (unsweetened)
2 tsp water
1 tbsp + 1 1/4 tsp flour
1 1/4 tsp powdered sugar
Decoration
Rose petals (e.g. orange/yellow)
Red powdered food colouring (optional)
Directions
Carrot cake
Preheat the oven to 155°C fan.
Place the sugar and the orange zest in a bowl, mix and set aside while measuring out/preparing the rest of the ingredients. Place flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger in one bowl and set aside.
Add the egg to the sugar and orange zest and whisk on high speed until light and fluffy. Then add the oil, carrot juice and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined.
Sieve the flour mix into to the wet ingredients and add the salt. With a rubber spatula fold in the dry ingredients until it is well combined and there are no lumps.
Peel and finely grate the carrots. Fold the carrots into your batter until evenly spread.
Butter your travel cake form and pour in your cake batter (I like to line the form with parchment paper for an easier removal). Bake the cake with closed lid for 30 minutes.
Let the cake cool down, then take it out of the cake form, wrap it in cling film and let it chill in the fridge, preferably over night.
Carrot-orange crémeux
Place the gelatine leaf in cold water and let it soak.
Combine orange and carrot juice, egg yolk, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat it up on medium heat while constantly whisking.
Place the corn starch in a small bowl. Add some of the juice mix to the corn starch and mix until there are no lumps. Transfer the corn starch mix back to the saucepan and bring it to a boil while constantly whisking.
As soon as the cream has thickened, remove it from the heat. Squeeze out excess water from the gelatine and add to the saucepan, whisking until well incorporated.
Transfer the cream to a tall container and let it cool down to approx. 45°C. Then add the butter and emulsify with an immersion blender.
Cover the cream with cling film to touch and let it cool down to approx. 20°C. You can cool it down quicker with an ice bath, while constantly whisking (just make sure the gelatine does not set yet).
Transfer the cream into a piping bag. Cover one end of the cake's hole firmly with cling film and place the cake vertically on the covered end. Fill the hole with the cream, cover the other top end of the cake's hole with cling film as well and place the cake back horizontally.
Cover the rest of the cake with cling film and place in the fridge until the cream is firm, approx. 2 hours. You can also place it in the freezer to let it set more quickly.
Caramelised white chocolate glaze
Roast the almonds in a preheated oven at 170°C fan for about 12 minutes, until golden brown. Let them cool down and blend in impulses in a blender until you get fine pieces.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in impulses. Then add the oil and mix until well combined.
Add the almonds and mix well. Pour the glaze into a tall container or measuring cup ready for glazing.
Cream cheese frosting
Add all ingredients in a bowl and whisk on medium to high speed until you get soft to medium peaks.
Transfer into a piping bag with the nozzle attached.
Use immediately or store in the fridge.
Carrot tuile
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan.
Combine all wet ingredients in one bowl and all dry ingredients in another.
Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet and whisk until well combined and there are no lumps.
Spread the batter on the tuile silicone mat, removing the excess.
Bake for 6 minutes.
Gently remove the tuiles from the mat and place on a plate.
Assembly
Put the cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
Place a cake rack on top of a baking tray to collect the excess chocolate glaze. Place the cake on top of the rack.
Pour the chocolate glaze over on the cake covering it completely.
Transfer the cake on a cake board and place in the fridge until the glaze is set.
Optional: cut a thin slice off of both ends of the cake, for nicer presentation.
Pipe two tails next to each other on the top of the cake, repeating the pattern along the whole cake.
Decoration
Optional: brush some red food colouring around the edges of the rose petals for an ombre effect.
Place some rose petals and leaf tuiles on top of the frosting and gently press it in.
Notes
Carrot juice: if you cannot easily find fresh or unsweetened carrot juice, you can replace it with fresh orange juice.
Decoration: this cake is also very pretty with just a nice piping of the cream cheese frosting on top, if you do not want to add the tuiles and petals.
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