Best Carrot Cake Recipe
Description
I have tried several carrot cake recipes throughout my time in highschool/college, but this turned out to be the best. I found this recipe in a magazine as being part of @britishbakeoff show (I don't know the season). It might not look perfect, but it is rich and full of flavours and textures.
It is believed that carrot cake has originated from the carrot puddings which were eaten in Europe in the Middle Age when sugar was expensive and carrot was used as a substitute in cakes. Pretty interesting, right?
Ingredients
For the orange curd
For the final cream cheese frosting
Instructions
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Making the sponge
Start by beating the eggs in a stand mixer, together with the sugar and the olive oil for 3-4 minutes until doubled in size.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and spices. Sift half of the quantity of the flour mix in the batter and fold with a metal spoon or a spatula, Do not mix with the mixer, just fold until everything is incorporated. Sift the other half and repeat the step until fully incorporated.
Add the dried fruit and carrot and fold them gently into the batter. Optionally you can add 100g raisins to the batter. The batter will be thick and rich, don't worry. This will give us a moist sponge, full of goodness.
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Baking the sponge
Line two 18 cm baking tins with baking sheet and butter. Add half of the quantity in each tin and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean (30 minutes should be fine). Take them out of the tins once they are done, remove the baking sheet and allow to cool on a rack for at least 2 hours.
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Making the orange curd
For the orange curd, mix the sugar and the eggs and add the bowl over bain marie (a pot over simmering water - keep the flame LOW). Add the orange and lemon juice and the butter. Mix well and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. That will take 5 minutes approximately, so you have to be patient. Do not overcook otherwise it will transform into scrambled eggs! Just cook it until it thickens, while mixing constantly. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with plastic foil and chill in the fridge a couple of hours (after it comes down to room temperature, of course).
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Cream cheese frosting
For the cream cheese frosting, mix the butter for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy and add the cream cheese and beat it well for 1 more minute until incorporated. Add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Add the chilled orange curd and beat for 1 minute. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Decorate as per you preference. I have cut each sponge into 2, then I added the cream and covered it completely with the frosting. you can just sandwich the 2 leveled sponges together, that is also fine. The frosting is not very stable so if you are a beginner it might seem too liquid for you and it will be challenging to work with it. This is why I am saying that you have alternatives, you can make it the simple way or the advanced way. Decorate with walnuts and candied orange peel.
Enjoy!
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