Carrot Cake by Bourke Street Bakery

We ate too much "oliebollen" and "appelbeignets" at New Year's Eve. It's time for something healthy! We have some carrots in the refrigerator; they are healthy. 


I made some recipes by Bourke Street Bakery, so I know they are good. Pork and fennel sausage rolls are on my list for coming week. And off course I will bake their Sourdough Potato Bread. But first I bake their Carrot Cake.

As I said, we have carrots waiting to be used. In the Netherlands we eat ‘Hutspot’, a traditional meal in wintertime with carrot, onion and mashed potato. You have to try it, it’s delicious. We like to eat it with pieces of fried bacon, a meatball and off course gravy.  It’s winter here in Thailand too and we have carrots, onions and potatoes too, so......  

But first I have to bake Carrot Cake. And off course I will bake Bourke Street Bakery Carrot Cake. Sometimes you can’t explain the reason why, it’s just a feeling you have.

This is definitely the best Carrot Cake we ever ate! It’s airy, moist, crunchy, sweet and tart and highly addictive. When you have a bit, you can’t stop and you want more.

It’s difficult to wait, but this cake tastes even better the next day and the day after; if you have any left. And when you have a carrot lying around, you could always …..

I couldn’t make the frosting because I didn’t have cream cheese and cream. But we didn’t miss it.

 Bourke Street Bakery Carrot Cake

Serves 10

This is what I used for the cake:
70g walnuts
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
55 ml (about 2) egg whites
60g sugar for egg whites
1 egg
1 egg yolk
160g sugar for egg yolks
170ml (2/3 cup) extra light olive oil
125g carrots, peeled, grated

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 tablespoon icing sugar, plus extra to dust
20g unsalted butter, softened
145g cream cheese (preferably Neufchatel)
2 tablespoons pure (thin) cream

This is what I did:

Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Grease an 18cm round cake pan and line the base and side with baking paper – the paper should protrude about 2.5cm above the pan.

Place walnuts on a baking tray and cook for 4-5 minutes until lightly roasted. Don’t leave them out of your sight, otherwise they burn. Cool and cut into thirds.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt into a bowl. Repeat to ensure they are evenly mixed.

Put the egg whites in a very clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until soft peaks start to form. Slowly pour in the sugar for the egg whites, while the motor is still running, being careful not to overmix – the meringue should reach soft peak stage. Quickly transfer the meringue to another bowl and set side until needed.

Put the egg and egg yolk in the bowl of the electric mixer and add the sugar for the egg yolks. Mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture doubles in volume and is quite airy. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream being careful that it doesn’t split or deflate too much.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and with a spatula, gently fold in the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the carrots and walnuts. Quickly and lightly fold in the meringue – do not fold it through completely, you should still be able to see streaks of meringue through the mix.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into centre of the cake comes out clean. You may need to drop the oven temperature to 180˚C after the first 30 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.

Meanwhile, for the cream cheese frosting, cream the icing sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and smooth. Add the cream cheese in small amounts, allowing it to be completely incorporated before adding the rest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl during this process to ensure even mixing. Add the cream and mix until smooth, being careful not to overmix at this stage or the cream may curdle and separate. If using a different type of cream cheese for this recipe you may need to add a little more cream – the frosting needs to be of a spreadable consistency but not at all runny.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow cooling in the pan for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Using a serrate knife, slice horizontally through the centre of the cake to form 2 even-sized layers and fill with cream cheese frosting. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar to serve.

I found this at wickedfood 

I send this to Susan’s YeastSpotting and Heather of Bake Your Own Bread