Another twist on an old classic, the basis of this weeks treat is quite a mouthful (a carrot cake cheesecake cupcake), aptly named "cake to the power of three",ie. "cake cubed"! Half carrot cake (walnuts and raisins included), half cheesecake, topped with a sugary glaze, cinnamon toasted walnuts and maple sauteed carrot ribbons. My inspiration came from Peanut who, as per her profile, loves carrot cake!
Carrot Cake Batter
(modified from Barefoot Contessa Parties!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour + 1 tbsp
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lbs carrots, grated
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease pan(s).
In a large bowl combine butter and sugar until fluffy (~2 minutes). Add in the eggs one at a time followed by the applesauce, mixing in between additions. In a small dish combine the yogurt and vanilla extract, set aside. In a medium bowl sift together the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds alternating with the yogurt/vanilla mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients until combined. In a separate bowl combine the carrots, raisins, walnuts and tbsp of flour, fold this into the batter. Pour into pan(s) approximately halfway.
Cheesecake Batter
1-8oz package cream cheese (1/3 less fat), room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, room temperature
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until smooth then beat in the egg until just combined. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the cupcake pan, over the carrot cake batter nearly filling the individual cups and place in the pre-heated oven. This recipe yielded 12 regular size cupcakes, 12 minis (4 with cheesecake, 8 plain) and 1 small loaf (no cheesecake), baked at 20, 15 and 45 minutes respectively. Don't shut off the oven once, these are done.
Walnut Drizzle
2 tbsp + 1 cup powder/icing/confectioner sugar
1 tbsp water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 tbsp milk (I used skim)
Set oven to 325 degrees for this step (or bake them along side the loaf as I did). In a small bowl combine 2 tbsp sugar, water and cinnamon. Stir in the walnuts until coated. Transfer the nuts to a baking pan covered with a sheet of tin foil in an even layer and bake for 8 minutes until the nuts are lightly toasted. Allow them to cool.
In a medium bowl combine 1 cup sugar and 6 tbsp milk, mixing to form a drizzle consistency amalgam.
Maple Carrot Ribbons
(from Barefoot Contessa Parties!)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup shaved carrots, thin strips
2 tbsp maple syrup
Use a vegetable peeler to obtain the thin ribbons of carrot. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot strips and maple syrup and sautée for about 4 minutes until the carrots are tender. Spread them over a paper towel, allowing them to cool.
Top each cupcake with a dash of nuts and a pinch of carrot ribbons followed by a generous drizzle distribution.
The Panel
With Kupcake, Sweet Tooth, Sugar Princess and Diana out of the office this week, the panel consisted of a slew of surrogates. Not sure how this affected the ratings but this cupcake finally scored a 5 for taste! Most judges stated that this specimen was moist and perfectly balanced between the carrot cake and cheesecake, some preferring the baked cheesecake topping to the classic cream cheese frosting. In addition, most expressed an enjoyment of the cinnamon toasted walnuts that sat atop the gourmet treat. Fathoms Chef ,Crazy Cakes and Giovanni articulated an appreciation for the lower level of sweetness. A couple of the guest arbitrators suggested using slightly less raisins and a little more spice.
Peanut: "Def my fave yet!"
CrazyCakes: "Beautiful!"
JRock: "...thought carrots looked like worms."
Giovanni: "Almost made me feel like I was eating something healthy"
My comments:
The two cake types combined in this recipe perfectly complimented one another. I would concur that the carrot cake could have used a little more spice, perhaps some nutmeg in the future. I personally felt the raisin/nut ratio was quite good and that the cake exhibited a perfect level of sweetness. The maple carrot raisins and cinnamon walnuts were a great touch; one of my favourite presentations!
With Kupcake, Sweet Tooth, Sugar Princess and Diana out of the office this week, the panel consisted of a slew of surrogates. Not sure how this affected the ratings but this cupcake finally scored a 5 for taste! Most judges stated that this specimen was moist and perfectly balanced between the carrot cake and cheesecake, some preferring the baked cheesecake topping to the classic cream cheese frosting. In addition, most expressed an enjoyment of the cinnamon toasted walnuts that sat atop the gourmet treat. Fathoms Chef ,Crazy Cakes and Giovanni articulated an appreciation for the lower level of sweetness. A couple of the guest arbitrators suggested using slightly less raisins and a little more spice.
Peanut: "Def my fave yet!"
CrazyCakes: "Beautiful!"
JRock: "...thought carrots looked like worms."
Giovanni: "Almost made me feel like I was eating something healthy"
My comments:
The two cake types combined in this recipe perfectly complimented one another. I would concur that the carrot cake could have used a little more spice, perhaps some nutmeg in the future. I personally felt the raisin/nut ratio was quite good and that the cake exhibited a perfect level of sweetness. The maple carrot raisins and cinnamon walnuts were a great touch; one of my favourite presentations!