Baking Carrot Column Cake

Elegant Dessert to Serve at Birthday Party or College Graduation

May 10, 2009 Michael Vyskocil

Learn how to make an elegant carrot cake filled and covered with cinnamon-cream cheese frosting in this step-by-step recipe.

This delightful dessert's appeal is not only in its taste, but also in its presentation. Made from a basic carrot-cake recipe, the column cake is filled and covered with a tasty cinnamon-cream cheese frosting.

RECIPE

Carrot Column Cake

Makes 3 nine-inch layers

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter, for pans
• 3 cups (6 medium) carrots, sliced
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/4 cups canola oil
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped, beans and seeds reserved
• 2/3 cup store-bought sweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 recipe Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
• 1/2 cup pecan halves, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line three 9-by-2-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper, dust with flour and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, cook the carrots, covered, in a moderate amount of boiling water until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain; cool slightly. Transfer the cooked carrots to a food processor; pulse several times to break up the carrots.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Add oil mixture to flour mixture, and mix until smooth, about 2 minutes. Fold in the coconut and the chopped carrots.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes before loosening edges and removing them from the pans. Cool cakes thoroughly on wire racks. Remove pachment paper rounds from cakes.
5. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water, reserved vanilla bean, dark-brown sugar and heavy cream. Bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute. Strain and reserve; discard vanilla bean.
6. Carefully level and trim each cake layer with a serrated knife. Place one layer on a nine-inch cake round, and brush with one-third of the vanilla syrup. Spread with 1 cup Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting. Top with second layer, vanilla syrup and 1 cup Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting. Add the remaining layer of cake and brush with remaining 1/3 vanilla syrup. Insert 2 eight-inch wooden skewers through top of cake to secure layers. Trim with kitchen shears until level with top of cake.
7. Using an offset spatula, ice cake with 2 cups Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting to give the cake a "crumb coat." This thin layer of frosting will seal the cake. Spread the icing from the center outward, making sure to push the frosting over the sides of the cake. Smooth the frosting. More frosting will cover the crumb coat later, so it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth at this point. Chill in the refrigerator to set the frosting, about 30 minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Use the remaining 2 cups frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake. Carefully draw a small offset spatula up the sides of the cake to create the lines of the column. Garnish with pecan halves. Serve at room temperature.

Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 3/4 to 7 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
2. Gradually add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in additional confectioner's sugar to reach spreading consistency. Keep covered in a cool place until ready to use.

SOURCES

12-inch Ateco rotating cake stand

Williams Sonoma (catalog only)

877-812-6235

The copyright of the article Baking Carrot Column Cake in Recipes is owned by Michael Vyskocil. Permission to republish Baking Carrot Column Cake in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Carrot Column Cake

What do you think about this article?

---

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.

post your comment

What is 3+7?