Moist Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting and Peanut Praline
What do you look for in a cake when you read a new recipe? I notice the ingredients first and try to imagine the combination of flavors. When I came across this recipe the first thing that struck me was the awesome mix of various fruity flavors. Carrots, pineapple and coconut. I could already envision a soft fruity cake which would give different bursts of taste with each mouthful. This was a cake I definitely had to bake.
We literally had a cat fight in the house on this cake. Each slice was measured and accounted for because all of us wanted it to ourselves. It really is a cake worth fighting over.
It so happened that I applied the icing and then I had to leave the cake for one whole day because I was out. Surprisingly this added to the flavor because the cake absorbed moisture form the icing and became softer. Moreover the coconut cream added to the icing had more time to mix with the cake crumb. The result was awesome!!
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups oil
4 pineapple rings, blended in the mixer
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups grated carrot
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Whisk together oil and sugar. Add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour mix gently. Add the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins and chopped walnuts. Bake for 1 hour.
For the icing
2 cups whipping cream
4 tbsp coconut cream (if you don't have coconut cream then extract some coconut milk and keep it in the freezer for 1 hour. Then skim the buttery thing that freezes like malai on the top)
2 tbsp coconut liqueur ( optional)
Beat all three ingredients together till peaks start forming.
For the Peanut Praline
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup peanuts, roasted and without the skin
Heat a pan. Add the sugar and keep it on medium heat. Let the sugar melt. Do not stir with a spoon or it will crystallize. You can rotate the pan gently. When the sugar has melted add the peanuts and gently rotate the pan again so that the peanuts are coated with sugar. The sugar will start bubbling and will get a caramelized look. Turn off the heat and tip the whole thing onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave it like that till it is completely cool. Do not try to touch it because caramelized sugar is very very hot. Once it is cool break it into pieces and whiz in a mixture. Your praline is ready.
Assembling the cake
Cut the cake into two halves vertically. I use a big piece of string to cut the cake.
Now sandwich the two layers with the icing. Spread the remaining icing all over the cake. Apply praline on the icing.
What do you look for in a cake when you read a new recipe? I notice the ingredients first and try to imagine the combination of flavors. When I came across this recipe the first thing that struck me was the awesome mix of various fruity flavors. Carrots, pineapple and coconut. I could already envision a soft fruity cake which would give different bursts of taste with each mouthful. This was a cake I definitely had to bake.
We literally had a cat fight in the house on this cake. Each slice was measured and accounted for because all of us wanted it to ourselves. It really is a cake worth fighting over.
It so happened that I applied the icing and then I had to leave the cake for one whole day because I was out. Surprisingly this added to the flavor because the cake absorbed moisture form the icing and became softer. Moreover the coconut cream added to the icing had more time to mix with the cake crumb. The result was awesome!!
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups oil
4 pineapple rings, blended in the mixer
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 cups grated carrot
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Whisk together oil and sugar. Add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour mix gently. Add the carrots, pineapple, coconut, raisins and chopped walnuts. Bake for 1 hour.
For the icing
2 cups whipping cream
4 tbsp coconut cream (if you don't have coconut cream then extract some coconut milk and keep it in the freezer for 1 hour. Then skim the buttery thing that freezes like malai on the top)
2 tbsp coconut liqueur ( optional)
Beat all three ingredients together till peaks start forming.
For the Peanut Praline
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup peanuts, roasted and without the skin
Heat a pan. Add the sugar and keep it on medium heat. Let the sugar melt. Do not stir with a spoon or it will crystallize. You can rotate the pan gently. When the sugar has melted add the peanuts and gently rotate the pan again so that the peanuts are coated with sugar. The sugar will start bubbling and will get a caramelized look. Turn off the heat and tip the whole thing onto a tray lined with parchment paper. Leave it like that till it is completely cool. Do not try to touch it because caramelized sugar is very very hot. Once it is cool break it into pieces and whiz in a mixture. Your praline is ready.
Assembling the cake
Cut the cake into two halves vertically. I use a big piece of string to cut the cake.
Now sandwich the two layers with the icing. Spread the remaining icing all over the cake. Apply praline on the icing.
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