Bake 16: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Halwa Glaze

THE FINALE! 

Can you believe that we have made it to the final of series 1! I can't either. 

This series 1 final was set up differently than the seasons we probably remember. They did 1 challenge and then eliminated a baker, and then did the second challenge to crown the winner. Every season after this one did the same three bake episode to crown the winner. 

For the first challenge the finalists were asked to bake miniature cakes. The final two were then tasked with baking scones, choux buns, and finger sandwiches. So much very small yummy things! 

First up: miniature cakes! Valuable lesson learned: soft cake + soft frosting = not a good idea for a mini cake. However, this remains my all time favorite carrot cake recipe and it does wonderfully as a two or three tier cake or a sheet cake. 

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (add more if you want to use some for decoration)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

3/4 cup applesauce (or trade for pureed pineapple and add some coconut!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

2 1/2 cups of grated carrot (use the large side of a box grater or a food processor)

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup salted butter (add 1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter)

2 tablespoons milk

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze

1/2 cup carrot juice

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Phew!

Let's start with the cake.

Heat the oven to 325 and toast the nuts on a sheet pan. You can skip the nuts too if you are allergic or you can toast them on the stove top, either way keep an eye on them.

Turn the oven up to 350. Prep your pan of choice with parchment, or cooking spray with flour. I suggest either two 9" rounds, three 9" rounds (my favorite), or a sheet pan. 

Mix your sugars, oil, eggs, add in the applesauce and vanilla. In another bowl (or gently on top if you are like me) mix the flour, soda, powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and gently fold. When mixed about two-thirds of the way, add the grated carrot and toasted nuts.

Divide into the pans of your choice and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. For two rounds aim for 30-32 minutes, three rounds is about 22 minutes, and a 9x13 would be about 40 minutes. 

For the frosting, beat all the ingredients in a mixer with a whisk attachment. Add additional milk or powdered sugar to adjust the thickness of the frosting to your liking. 

For the halwa glaze, put the carrot juice, cream, sugar and a punch of salt in a saucepan. Do not stir it, you want the sugar to insulate the heavy cream. You want medium to high heat and let it bubble away and foam, don't turn the heat down, it won't boil over and the foaming does subside. Let it go 12-18 minutes (depends on your heat) until it is thickened. You don't want it to start browning but you want it thick enough to stick to the cake. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Allow to cool. Just before glazing the cake give it a good stir. 

To assemble, for rounds, put cream cheese frosting in between your layers and then the halwa glaze on top, or both in between all the layers, or whatever you want! For a sheet cake, top with frosting and then drizzle with the glaze. Either way it is just so good. You can leave off the glaze too if you are short on time or carrot juice. 

For mini cakes, I cut rounds and then frosted with the cream cheese and topped with the glaze. I had to keep them in the fridge to ensure I could handle them for frosting and they still got smushed. So I highly recommend sticking with the full sized cake on this one!

 

Bonus: isn't this glaze mesmerizing!