Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Last week, I had to miss out on TWD. I had a good excuse - I was running in the London marathon last Sunday. Yes, after 4 long months of training, it was finally race day and it was absolutely, mind-blowingly fantastic! Many people had told me over and over again that on race day, the crowds would carry you to the finish line. Yet, I still had my doubts. They were right, though. Despite the rain and dreary weather, approximately a quarter million people lined the route and cheered their hearts out for all the runners. Buoyed by their amazing support, I crossed the finish line almost a whole hour faster than I anticipated.

Now that I no longer have to spend hours training each weekend, I was glad to have a TWD recipe to look forward to. This week's choice was a carrot cake, something that I've made just once before. That time, I didn't quite like the result so I was hoping that Dorie's version would turn out better.

Since I already had a cake in the fridge from a previous baking session, I decided to use the recipe to make cupcakes instead. To do so, I halved both the cake and frosting recipe and had enough of both to make about 14 regular cupcakes.

I brought these cupcakes to a brunch on Sunday and I must say they were a huge hit. Reactions ranged from "these cupcakes are killer" to "these are the best cupcakes I've ever had in my life". Yet another hit from Dorie!

Bill's Big Carrot Cake
From Baking: From My Home to Yours

For the cake:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¾ teaspoon salt

3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted with a shredding a blade or use a box grater)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 large eggs

For the frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

½ cup shredded coconut (optional)

Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

To make the frosting:

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.

If you'd like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:

Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft.

Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:

This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it's good plain, it's even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

Storing:

The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. It can also be frozen. Freeze it uncovered, then when it's firm, wrap airtight and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

Makes 10 servings

White chocolate and matcha pound cake

Yesterday, while surfing around food blogs, I came across this post for a White chocolate and Matcha pound cake. Now, white chocolate and matcha is one of my favourite flavour combinations, one that I find works particularly well in this ice cream recipe that previously featured on this blog. After seeing this post then, I just couldn't get this cake out of my mind and absolutely had to make it after coming home from work last night. I was doubly persuaded when I saw the post that originally inspired this cake and another similar post about this cake.

While the batter was really easy to make, the problem with pound cakes, and its really not a problem at all if you're patient, is that it takes so long to bake - 50 minutes. Since my cake didn't come out of the oven till about 10 o'clock at night, my conscience wouldn't let me try a slice right away as it was just too close to bed time. The smells, though, were amazing and it took all my willpower to resist cutting a slice then and there.

So I dutifully waited till the morning and took my first slice at breakfast. (What makes it ok to eat cake at breakfast but not just before bedtime? Beats me... crazy female logic, I guess.) At first, I didn't find the cake quite so special - likely because I was eating the end slice. You know, it like the end slice of bread that is mostly crust but no crumb. So I took another (!) and this time, I could really taste the white chocolate and green tea flavours coming through. I like!

White Chocolate and Matcha Pound Cake
From La Tartine Gourmande

Ingredients:
3 large eggs (2 oz each)
6 1/3 oz all-purpose flour
2 3/4 oz white chocolate
4 1/4 oz butter
5 1/4 oz fine sugar
1 pinch of salt
1.5 tsp Matcha tea
1 tsp baking powder

Melt the butter. Place the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and let simmer until the chocolate is melted. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the eggs with the sugar and beat until it is white in color, then remove.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and add it to the egg/sugar preparation, mixing manually with a whisk. Then add the salt and butter and mix.

Divide the batter in 2/3 and 1/3. Add the melted chocolate to the 2/3 batter and the matcha tea to the 1/3 batter.

Preheat your oven at 350 F. Grease a rectangular cake pan and add half of the chocolate batter. Continue with the matcha tea batter and finish with the other half of the chocolate batter. Take a fork and pass it through the different layers of batter.

Bake the cake for 50 mins, or until the blade of a knife comes out dry when inserted in the cake. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before unmolding.

Makes 1 loaf

An unmissable TWD

While I already normally look forward to every Tuesday with Dorie, the recipe this week, The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart, was even more special for me. Why? Because the centerpiece of this recipe, the exquisitely smooth and delicious lemon cream, originates from the Picasso of pastry - Pierre Hermé. 

For those of you who don't know him, Pierre Hermé is a pastry chef extraordinaire. He is responsible for creations such as the Isaphan, a rose flavoured macaron with litchis and raspberries), and Plasir Sucré. For me, no visit to Paris is complete without a mandatory stop at his boutique on Rue Bonaparte. If you're going there for the first time, there's no missing it. Its the little store with the line of people snaking out its door.

 

Knowing what I know about Pierre Hermé, I was sure that this recipe would indeed live up to its name. Sure enough, I was not disappointed. Although the lemon cream is marginally more of a hassle to make than regular lemon curd, if you have a blender or a food processor handy, it really is a snap. I did find the crust a little more difficult to handle - its not one that you can roll easily (which Dorie did warn about) - but by pressing it into the pan as Dorie suggests, the crust turned out beautifully.

I served this for tea on Sunday and again for dinner. M, who is usually a chocolate fanatic, raved about it as well. I think this recipe is definitely a keeper!

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

From Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

1 9-inch tart shell

Getting ready:

Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk - you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling - you'll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point - the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience - depending on how much heat you're giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going - to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats. 

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days or, tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator). 

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.

Makes 8 servings

TWD: Gooey Chocolate Cakes

Once again, its time for TWD! I've found that its the perfect solution to Monday blues since every Monday night (if I've procrastinated, which is usually the case), I have a Dorie baking session to look forward to! This week, the chosen recipe was Dorie's Gooey Chocolate Cake aka molten chocolate cake or chocolate fondant.

While I've made this type of cake many times, I've actually never tried Dorie's recipe so I was definitely looking forward to giving it a go. Molten chocolate cake is one of those cakes that is almost universally loved - you can find it on just about every restaurant's dessert menu - but is so quick and easy to whip up.

After having read the problems and questions post on the TWD blog, I decided to reduce the cooking time in order to ensure that I had a gooey inside. As such, instead of 13 minutes, I decided to bake mine for 11. I must have an oven that runs cold though because I think I could have easily left it in for at least another minute. No matter though - the cake was still absolutely delicious, if a little more gooey than normal! Next time you have unexpected dinner guests, this is your go to recipe because you can have it on the table in under 30 minutes tops.

Gooey Chocolate Cake
From Baking: From My Home to Yours

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
4 ounces coarsely chopped,
1 ounce very finely chopped
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
6 tablespoons of sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. butter (or spray – it’s easier) 6 cups of a regular-size muffin pan, preferably a disposable aluminum foil pan, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Put the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, cocoa and salt together.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the coarsely chopped chocolate and the butter in the bowl and stir occasionally over the simmering water just until they are melted – you don’t want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and yolk until homogenous. Add the sugar and whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and, still using the whisk, stir (don’t beat) them into the eggs. Little by little, and using a light hand, stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the finely chopped chocolate over the batter.

Bake the cakes for 13 minutes. Transfer them, still on the baking sheet, to a rack to cool for 3 minutes. (There is no way to test that these cakes are properly baked, because the inside remains liquid.)

Line a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or parchment or wax paper, and, after the 3-minute rest, unmold the cakes onto the board. Use a wide metal spatula to lift the cakes onto dessert plates.

Makes 6 servings

Back to Tuesdays with Dorie!

After missing the last 2 TWDs, I was determined not to let another week go by without making this important appointment. So as soon as I got a chance , which turned out to be Wednesday night the week before, I got started on my Caramel-Topped Flan, this week’s recipe chosen by Steph of A Whisk and A Spoon.

Now I’ve never made Crème Caramel before, even though I do enjoy it, and was amazed by just how quick it was to make. The caramel, given the 1/3 quantity I was making, was done in 5-7 minutes tops. The custard itself took only about 5 minutes to heat up and mix together. The only slight hassle is having to set up the baking tray with hot water to bake the custard, but honestly speaking, as long as you can read and follow instructions, its really not a big deal.

After 35 minutes in the oven, my caramel has puffed up slightly, as the book said it would so I slid it out, ran my knife around the edge to loosen it and let it cool. I unmolded mine the next day after a night in the fridge and it slid out very easily with the caramel oozing out to coat the custard. The taste, needless to say, was divine – as all Dorie’s recipes are.

To see the rest of the TWD's efforts, please check out the blogroll here.

Caramel-Topped Flan

For the Caramel

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/4 cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.

To Make the Caramel:

Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

To Make the Flan:

Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.)

Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

Makes 6 to 8 Servings