Hi there,

The Doc in our house recently had a birthday. The grands wanted to celebrate by making a homemade birthday cake. As those of you who have befriended me may remember, my resolution this year is to become a baker. Not a better baker mind you, just an entry level baker.

So, my baking ability was conundrum number one. The second conundrum to solve was Doc eats a VERY healthy diet. So, I came up with this recipe to solve both of these problems. It is loosely based on a recipe by Genevieve Ko, and is easy to make and has a healthy dose of carrots. It definitely received the Laganella stamp of approval.

We have here Doc, Maya, and my rock and roll grandson, Lucas.

COCONUT CARROT CAKE

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

•  Nonstick cooking spray, 10 Inch springform pan
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup/168 grams granulated sugar
• ½ cup/100 grams neutral oil, such as vegetable oil
• 1 cup/135 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and mace
• 1 teaspoon of orange extract
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 packed cups/260 grams coarsely grated peeled carrots (from 3 medium carrots)
• 1/4 cup of chopped pecans

FOR THE TOPPING

1 (8-ounce/226-gram) block cream cheese, softened
½ packed cup/73 grams confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
½ cup/120 grams sour cream, zest of 1 orange

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat an 10-inch SPRINGFORM pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, and spray again.

Make the topping: Whisk the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and orange zest. Stir slowly with a whisk until no traces of sugar remain, then whisk rapidly until smooth. Add the egg and whisk until fully incorporated, then whisk in the sour cream until smooth.
Make the cake batter: Combine the eggs and granulated sugar in the reserved bowl and beat with the whisk until evenly combined. While whisking, add the oil in a steady stream and whisk until emulsified. Add the flour, spice, orange extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and use the spatula to fold into the wet ingredients just until the dry ingredients disappear. Add the carrots and coconut and fold until evenly distributed.
Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Smooth the topping gently and evenly over the batter to completely cover it. It’s OK if it looks bumpy; it will even out in the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes. Add additional coconut to the top of the cheese mixture and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with bits of the topping but no cake batter.
Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Cut directly in the pan to serve, or slide out of the pan using the parchment paper to cut into squares. The cake can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Well, shockingly, this turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Give it a try and let me know what you think. All suggestions for improvement are greatly accepted.

Some of the products I used: