Orange and Carrot Cake

The best part about winter for a person like me who does not really enjoy the cold is definitely the food. I like a bit of spice in everything, sweet or savory! I noticed that I’ve been using nutmeg a lot this winter as compared to the rest of the year when the spice is lying quietly in one corner of my cupboard.  What is a Winter without Carrot Cake? The Internet is flooded with Carrot cake recipes and there is no point in me adding just another one. So I’ve combined the flavours of a classic carrot cake with zesty oranges and the marriage is nothing short of a flavour explosion! Think of warm spices, soft caramel kissed Carrot Cake, the bitterness of orange marmalade and just a touch of sweet white chocolate. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for you.

Cakes like these don’t need tonnes of buttercream. It is there in the cake to cement the flavours and the layers together. So I have applied a thin coat of swiss meringue buttercream and a generous amount of orange marmalade to complement the cake. One important factor that I always stress on is that making a cake should not mean toiling away in the kitchen or an elaborate prep. I did not even grate the carrots at home this time. The supermarkets sell shredded carrots that obviously differ in thickness. I’ve been meaning to try them out as I was pretty sure they would add a bit more texture to the soft cake. I was right! So I easily skipped the longest step in making a carrot cake. The top as quite a few of you asked me on Instagram is entirely edible. There are meringues, edible flowers and little candy discs that I created in a two-tone effect using candy melts. I sprinkled a bit of gold dust on them. They are are my favourite new experiment and they just take your desserts to a whole new level. You know what, I can’t wait till Christmas. I am all about sprinkles, chocolate and candy already.

 

Orange And Carrot Cake (carrot cake adapted with variation from Epicurious)
Makes a 6 inch, 3 layered round cake

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
|1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup castor sugar
4 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup citrus peel (or 1 tbsp freshly grated orange peel)
2 cups self-raising flour
11/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated peeled carrot
1/2 cup raisins
Cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream (recipe below)
1/2 cup Orange Marmalade
Decorations- meringue kisses, edible flowers, candy discs, grated chocolate

Cinnamon Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1 tsp powdered cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla essence
2-3 drops of orange food colouring (I used a mix of red and yellow coloring)

For the orange colored, white chocolate ganache
100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tbsp heavy cream
3-4 drops of a mix of red and yellow food colour

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Lightly grease the sides and bottom and line the bottoms of 3, 6-inch pans with non-stick baking paper.

Using an electric mixer (or by hand), beat oil and both sugars in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice and peel. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt into large bowl; add to sugar mixture and beat to blend. Stir in carrots and raisins.

Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool cake for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a wire rack. Remove baking paper and cool. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.)

To make the cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream
Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks and looks glossy. The bowl should have completely cooled by now.
Add the butter, 2 tablespoon at a time, until thick and fluffy. If it begins to look curdled, continue to whip until it comes back together, before adding in remaining butter.
When the buttercream is smooth and has come together, add the cinnamon, vanilla and  food color and whip gently again to blend.

To make the orange colored, white chocolate ganache: Heat the white chocolate and heavy cream over very low heat in a small saucepan. When cream just reaches boiling point, remove from heat and leave aside. Stir with a spoon to make a smooth mix. Add the food colour and stir to blend.

To assemble 
Once the cake layers are completely cool, start assembling..
On a cake plate or stand, spread a little buttercream in the centre and place one layer of the cake (so that the cake does not move about while frosting). Spread about 1/2 a cup of cinnamon swiss meringue buttercream. Spread half the quantity of orange marmalade. Place the second layer. Repeat. Place the last layer upside down (so you get a flat top). Spread buttercream on the top and sides. If you want to make it look like a naked cake, a thin layer of frosting is good enough.
Stick the cake into the refrigerator for 15-20 mins.
Make the white chocolate ganache 5 minutes before you take the cake out from the fridge.Once the ganche is cool, but still flowing freely when you lift it with a spoon, spoon it onto the cake slowly. Be gentle on the edges to create the drippy effect.
Decorate with meringues, candy and edible flowers.