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Flourless, moist, and delicious carrot cakefrosted with a delicate and creamy mascarpone frosting.
Remember that one time when I said I never get the flu! Remember?And that other time when I asked, what are sinus headaches?!?! In the same week, the flu found me AND I discovered my sinuses.Damn this winter!
Honestly? I am really, seriously, very over this freezing weather. I’m done with it. We need to break up.
Last week, during my timeout with the flu, all I did was pray that I would wake up without a headache, binged on a Shahs of Sunset marathon, and ate my weight in this incredible Carrot Cake.
Also? Remember that one time when I said, “Carrots in a CAKE?! VEGETABLES in a CAKE?! EWWWWWWWW!!!”. Such a fool, I was… OR how about that other time when I said, “Watermelon?! EWWWWWWWWW!!!”. Okay, well, that still stands. I.Hate.Watermelon.
Friends. This cake. It was love at first bite. It blew me away.
You know, you and I are no strangers to cakes. We’ve made a few, here and there, and each of them have been at the least, amazing. Chocolate Cakes, Berry Cakes, even Pound Cakes.
However, this cake? … this cake is like no other. There’s no chocolate here. There’s no berries here, either. Yet somehow it is one of the best cakes I have ever tasted. It’s dreamy. It islight as air, but sweet as sugar.
Then there’s the frosting. Oh my heavens!! I didn’t want to go with the classic cream cheese frosting, thus I opted for something similar, yet different.
This Mascarpone Frosting is delicate, creamy, and deliciously indulgent. A MUST try. Don’t skip it – it pulls the whole thing together.
All of these flavors put together take this cake waaaaay over the top. I think you will love it.
ENJOY!
Katerina | Diethood
Flourless, moist, and delicious carrot cake frosted with a delicate and creamy mascarpone frosting.
1tub(8 ounces) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2cuppowdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325.
Grease an 8-inch springform pan with butter and dust with flour; set aside.
In your mixer's bowl combine egg whites and tartar; beat at high speed until soft peaks form.
Add 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, cinnamon, salt and vanilla; beat at medium-high speed until incorporated and light in color; about 2 to 3 minutes.
Using a spatula, fold in grated carrots and a third of the egg whites mixture; fold until thoroughly combined.
Fold in the remaining egg whites and almond flour; continue to fold until incorporated.
Pour batter into previously prepared cake pan.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown and the cake starts to pull away from the sides.
Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
In the meantime, prepare the frosting.
With mixer on medium speed, beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
In separate bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar; beat until smooth.
Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture; continue to fold until completely incorporated.
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
If your mascarpone frosting is runny, there's a chance that you either over or under-mixed the mascarpone and heavy cream. When this happens, try beating in extra powdered sugar, 1 spoonful at a time, to help it thicken.
Mascarpone cheese: A creamy Italian cheese that adds a rich texture and buttery flavor to this whipped frosting. Powdered sugar: Helps thicken and sweeten the frosting. Vanilla extract: Enhances the flavor. Whipping cream: Whipped cream lightens the frosting for an airy finish.
I love using oil in cakes because not only does it make your cake moist, but it also STAYS moist for much longer than if you used butter. That's because oil is 100% fat where butter is around 80%.
The key to a soft and fluffy carrot cake is to have the carrots bake into the crumb. If you coarsely grate the carrots, then they will not bake as quickly and will stay as threads through the cake which can get stuck in your teeth. For maximum flavor and the best texture, you'll need to grate them finely.
Cream cheese contains at least 33% milk fat, and mascarpone may contain 60-75% milk fat. Mascarpone has a buttery flavor that makes it particularly suitable for desserts. It adds richness and a creamy texture, while cream cheese brings a creamy consistency and slightly tangy taste to dishes.
Whip on high until soft peaks form, 1-2 minutes. This takes less time than whipping cream by itself. If you accidentally over-whip the mascarpone and it turns grainy, you can rescue it by folding in a splash of cream until it smooths out again.
If you do over mix and the mascarpone becomes grainy, add heavy cream a tablespoon at a time and mix on low until the mascarpone becomes smoother. Why is my mascarpone frosting runny? This is most likely from overmixing the mascarpone or heavy cream. Make sure to stop mixing once medium-stiff peaks form.
Fixing curdled mascarpone:One thing I learned while making a Mascarpone Peach Parfait is that mascarpone is very prone to curdling in mixtures if any of the ingredients are different temperatures.
Mascarpone is richer and creamier than cream cheese, but works well in recipes like cake frosting. It's not as salty or tangy as some brands of cream cheese, so taste the frosting to see if it needs a pinch of salt or a few drops of lemon juice for balance.
Carrot cake usually contains more saturated fat than fruit cake thanks to the frosting, which is typically made from cream cheese. The higher fat content also means it's higher in calories. Carrot cake is lower in fibre, so may not be as filling.
Carrots contain pigments that are sensitive to changes in pH balance. When the shreds of carrot come into contact with the alkaline baking soda, a chemical reaction takes place that causes the pigments to change color.
This is because too much batter in one cake tin may result in the weight of the batter being too much for the cake to support, causing the cake to collapse and sink in the middle as it bakes. This is especially true for cake recipes which have a more softer, delicate structure to them, which many of my cake recipes do.
It's true that carrots are the star of the show, but aim for finely grated pieces rather than chunky. The finer you grate the carrots, the more evenly they will be distributed throughout the cake (for the perfect texture), and the more evenly the cake and the carrots will bake.
Our answer. The green flecks are carrot but the colour has been changed by the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in the mixture. Some pigments are sensitive to pH balances and will change colour if they are in a very acid or very alkaline environment.
Using baking powder (a chemical leavening agent) often becomes tricky. How much is enough to leaven dense, oil-based cakes like carrot cake? Sometimes, we end up using too much baking powder to help this type of cake rise, and this mistake can unfortunately make them taste bitter or like chemicals.
Most frostings are made with powdered sugar (otherwise known as confectioners' sugar or icing sugar), which contains cornstarch to prevent it from caking. Adding more powdered sugar can be an effective way and the easiest way of absorbing too much liquid to achieve thicker frosting.
In any case it will thicken a bit as it chills as the mascarpone starts to set in the fridge likewise will the cream and to a much lesser extent the egg yolks.
The other main reasons the mixture would be runny is if other liquid ingredients have been added first, or if the mascarpone has been beaten so much that it has curdled (then you will get water separating out from the cheese curds).
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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