Thursday, October 9, 2014

Cream cheese stuffed carrot cake

This year, I baked a cake for Yom Kippur's pre-fast dinner and then also one for the break fast the following day.  The cinnamon apple pie cake I baked for the pre-fast baked up quite well, with the exception of a little smoke in my apartment.  I chalked it up to the extra cinnamon sugar I put on the cake.  I turned the oven off; let it cool a little.  I even turned on the air conditioning in the apartment and cracked the windows a little.


Then, it came time to bake this cream cheese stuffed carrot cake.  I started the cake and realized that I had run out of granulated sugar (I was about 1/4 cup short) so I subbed in a little extra light brown sugar.  No biggie.  I stood there and hand grated 3 cups of carrots.  I preheated the oven.  And then the oven started smoking.  This?  This was "a biggie."  Smoke (minimal amounts) was coming out from behind the stove top and then also when I opened the oven door.  Scratch that, I wasn't baking the cake in my apartment.  It was 11:25 p.m. on a week night.  I frantically texted my sister, who lives about 15 blocks away from me, to see if I could go to her apartment early the next morning to bake the cake, which she of course said I could.  Then, a few minutes later, B called me to chat, and I told him about my oven ordeal, and he suggested I go bake the cake at his apartment...then.

So I packaged up the cake -- already assembled and in the pan -- with layers of tin foil, then tied it in a plastic bag, and then put it in another plastic bag.  Then I -- and the cake -- hopped in a cab (at midnight) and took it 80+ blocks to B's apartment so that I could bake the cake.  So, basically, this is my very long winded way of saying that in case the cake doesn't look perfect, please forgive me.  This cake has been through a lot (not to mention it's trip to Brooklyn that morning and then to Westchester to my parent's house...and then to my aunt's house to break the fast).




Just a note -- this cake is nut and raisin free (nut free for my allergic cousin, raisin free because one of my sisters doesn't like raisins and also because I forgot them at the store).  Personally, I think it needed the raisins, but I won't forget them from the store next time I make it.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake
(Assembled by me, individual recipes get their credit below)

Carrot cake 
(the original recipe was for cupcakes, but I decided to make a bundt cake this time)

Ingredients (for 24 full-sized cupcakes):

4 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup apple sauce (I used unsweetened)
1 cup golden (light) brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp (1 Tbsp) ground cinnamon
3 tsp (1 Tbsp) vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots (hand grated....trust me.  Freshly hand-grated.  Don't buy the pre-shredded carrots)
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts (like I said above, I subbed in 1 cup of raisins...but no one would fault you (or me, in the future) for using 1/2 cup each of chopped walnuts and raisins...however this time I left them both out)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Spray a bundt pan with baking spray.

Using an electric or stand mixer, mix the eggs, canola oil, applesauce, brown sugar, and sugar until smooth.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon until combined.
Slowly mix in dry ingredients until no clumps remain.
Stir in vanilla, carrots, pineapple, and chopped walnuts (or raisins, or both).

Pour about 1/2 to 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan.
Add the cream cheese filling here (see below for the recipe and directions). 
Add the rest of the carrot cake batter.
Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool.

Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar before serving.
(I didn't bring my powdered sugar home with me, and my aunt didn't have any, so I left it off this time.)

Cream Cheese Filling
From Alida's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Add to cake in the step above.

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