Just yesterday it snowed like crazy. The biggest snowflakes I've ever seen.
Seemed like it would be winter forever. One hour later, it was all gone.
I know it will probably be winter for another 2 months at least, but I already have that spring feeling. The days are brighter and longer and the light today was just amazing. I couldn't stop taking pictures and ended up filling my 8 gigabyte card (yikes!). On the other hand, how could you not have spring feelings when you find lilacs in the flower shop (yes, lilacs!!)? I'm not sure what the other flowers are, but they definitely make me think of spring. Delicate and beautiful.
I've been wanting to make this carrot cake again for quite some time. The recipe is from my first book (which I just proofread in English by the way, yaay!) so I knew it would be delicious. It's super moist, stuffed with nuts and lots and lots of grated carrot, it has just the right amount of cinnamon and it's filled with cream cheese frosting, which is always equally awesome. It doesn't end there though, on top of all that, there's a whole lotta coconut chips. Yeah. That's what makes it deluxe!
Carrot cake deluxe
serves 8-10
Recipe from my book, Lomelinos tårtor (Lomelino's cakes)
Carrot cake
150 g butter
3 large eggs
150 g (1/2 cup & 1 heaping tablespoon) granulated sugar
120 g (1/2 cup & 1 heaping tablespoon) brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla sugar or extract
180 g (1 1/4 cups) all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
250 g (about 1 3/4 cups) carrots, finely grated
100 g walnuts (or pecans), chopped
150 ml (1/2 cup & 1 heaping tablespoon) apple sauce
Cream cheese frosting
100 g softened butter
300 g cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Decoration
Coconut chips or grated coconut
Carrot cake
1. Heat oven to 350F (175°C).
2. Butter and flour two 6-inch (15 cm) cake pans.
3. Melt butter and leave to cool.
4. Beat eggs and sugars until fluffy and lighter in color. Add butter and vanilla and beat until combined.
5. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl, then sift into the batter. Stir until just smooth.
6. Add grated carrot, nuts and apple sauce and stir until combined. Divide batter between the two cake pans.
7. Bake for about 40-45 minuter, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.,
Cream cheese frosting
1. Beat butter until pale and fluffy. Add cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until just smooth.
2. Put the bowl in the fridge while you cut the cake.
Assembly
1. Cut both cake layers in half with a serrated knife so you end up with four cake layers.
2. Put the first cake layer on a cake board or directly onto a plate or cake stand. Spread a (don't make it too thick as the cake might will be a bit wobbly at first) layer of frosting on the first layer. Repeat this until you've used up all layers.
3. Spread a thin layer of frosting all over the cake (crumb coating), and put in the fridge for 15 minutes (this is optional, mostly to secure any loose crumbs). Spread the rest of the frosting on the cake. Press (more like throw!) coconut chips over the top and the side of the cake. Keep the vacuum nearby!
