Christmas Carrot Cake

Dear Friends,

He did it. He actually did it. My baby brother tied the knot earlier this month! Despite the food poisoning that had him vomiting from 2 a.m. on the wedding day until two days afterwards, he manfully pumped himself full of medications and Gatorade to say "I do." Fortunately, the afternoon sunlight was so soft and golden that hardly anyone noticed his skin was a festive holiday shade of green. I'm also happy to announce that the wedding cake turned out pretty well for my first attempt, although things didn't go exactly the way I had hoped.

So you remember how I was worried that the cake might collapse during the cutting ceremony? Well, I needn't have been concerned about the sturdiness of the cake. In fact, the glass handle of the cake knife broke off while the happy couple was attempting to slice it! They were left with no choice but to gouge through the fondant with the blunt-edged spatula. Oh, and it gets better: no plate and fork were provided. So my brother ended up brandishing the cake-smeared spatula at his blushing bride, who did her best to appear graceful while eating off a metal spade as big as her face. As you can imagine, the entire cake cutting ceremony was accompanied by outbursts of laughter from the guests and groans of dismay from yours truly! Talk about a photo opportunity! But eventually I had to laugh too because after all, it was a wonderful day, the cake looked and tasted lovely, and the cutting ceremony was probably among the most memorable that the guests had ever seen. I think that God gives me these moments once in a while to help me remember to not take myself too seriously, so I look back on that memory with thankfulness.

Shortly after that special day, I woke up one morning to the surprising revelation that Christmas was almost upon us. As with many people, the holiday season is my favorite part of the year, and it always seems to flash by too quickly. It was already time for my next project: Christmas Carrot Cake.

Doesn't that snowy wreath of fluffy cream cheese frosting just look like Christmas? Truthfully it had never occurred to me in the past to make carrot cake for Christmas; thinking of holiday desserts normally calls to mind peppermint flavors, gingerbread men, and Santa hat accents. In fact, I had originally intended to make carrot cake months earlier at a friend's request. Then life got busy and before I could blink, Christmas was right around the corner and the carrot cake still had not been baked. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how very well Christmas and carrot cake actually are suited to each other.

The swaths of billowy white frosting mimic snow-covered Christmas mornings, and the cake is filled with flavors and spices that make you feel all warm and fuzzy: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, brown sugar, and so on. Although carrot cake is traditionally decorated with bright orange carrots and green carrot tops squiggled out in frosting, I did my own riff on tradition with a Christmas slant.

The gleaming white sugar pearls add a festive elegance to the frosting border, as well as a fun surprising crunch once in a while as you munch. Since we're getting a close look at the frosting, let's talk about that for a minute. Have you heard of ermine frosting? Also known as cooked flour frosting or boiled milk frosting, it was the original frosting for red velvet cake. It has a fluffy, whipped texture and a creamy taste, and it's not as sweet as traditional American buttercream. It is absolutely delicious, and adding cream cheese to it sends it over the top. You've got to try this recipe, which I've included at the end of this post.

Moving on, let's take a closer look at those green carrot tops. Wait a minute, those aren't carrot tops, they're tiny Christmas trees! How cute is that? Super cute! :)

A toasty crispy coat of candied pecans and Speculoos cookies hugging the bottom of the cake add a rustic flair and, of course, lots of extra texture and flavor. Some of you may be wondering what on earth Speculoos cookies are, and how they made their way into a carrot cake. More about that below, so read on!

Cheerful orange carrots wink from a garland strung with festive green-and-white striped twine. And of course, I simply couldn't resist finishing things off with a row of twinkling white snow bunnies and snowflakes, because who loves carrots more than bunnies? This seems like the perfect moment to introduce you to our two lovable, frisky, all-around adorable Holland lop rabbits, Baby and Copper. We call them our "buns," and yes, they are as soft, plush, and cuddly as they look.

Baby is the grayish-brown bun with black markings, and based on her moody personality and her ability to move stealthily about the house, I believe that she was a ninja in a former life. Note the carefully cocked listening ear and the sharp, focused gleam in her eye in the first photo. Although she can be very affectionate when the mood strikes her, she often seems disgruntled to have been born into such a cute body, and we've considered renaming her Darth Baby. Copper, in contrast, has the most friendly and pet-like personality that a rabbit could possibly have. She loves to jump up on the couch next to you and ask to be stroked, and she'll poke you with her nose if you get distracted and stop petting her. She'll come hopping up to you if you call her name, and she'll stick close by your heels in the kitchen because she knows that's where carrots usually come from. Despite their differing personalities, Baby and Copper are besties, as you can see in the photo below.

If you've developed a case of the "Awww's" or have been suddenly robbed of speech, I can assure you as a physician that your response is completely normal in the face of such blatant, in-your-face cuteness. And you can understand now why I just had to pay tribute to my carrot-loving buns when decorating this cake.

When the cake was all ready to go, it turned out to be a lot more massive than I had originally anticipated! This was because I test-baked three different recipes and decided to stack them all together into one cake, not thinking about how tall the cake would turn out to be in the end. I realized I desperately needed some friends to help me eat it. So we dressed up our miniature Christmas tree, lit some candles, and set out the cake for a holiday cake-and-cocktails party.

We felt blessed to have so many friends brave the rain to come celebrate with us, since it's a well-known biological fact that southern Californians physically melt in the rain and will often cancel plans to avoid this phenomenon. We ate, laughed, made fun of Justin Bieber videos, and watched "White Christmas" on TV. The buns were happy too, since they had lots of new playmates to give them pets and treats throughout the night. Even Darth Baby was surprisingly social and frisky! Not only did the party give me a chance to share my cake, but my floridly extroverted husband Philip also got to entertain the crowd and show off his bartending skills. He made his famous Whiskey Old-Fashioned, a Christmas Cosmo, a Bourbon Smash, and a Boozy Eggnog. And those drinks must have been fabulous, because he was almost all out by the end of the evening!

Philip's vats of merry moonshine claimed the majority of the refrigerator space that afternoon, so the cake had been sitting out at room temperature for several hours by the time we got around to slicing it. By then the buttercream frosting was a bit melted and gooey, but that only added to the lush decadence of this super-moist, fragrant, and beautifully spiced cake. It tasted like a Christmas party in my mouth, and a friend uttered words that would warm any baker's heart: "This is the best carrot cake I've ever had!"

I was so busy passing out slices of cake that I didn't get to take a lot of photos, but you get the idea. If you look closely, despite the melting you might be able to make out that the frosting between the layers are of two different alternating colors. You guessed it, it's all about those Speculoos cookies again. Now Speculoos cookies are no secret, and they might be a favorite of many of you already. I buy Speculoos cookies at Trader Joe's, but they're pretty much identical to Biscoff cookies, which can be found at many grocery stores. They're simple but delicious caramelized cinnamon crisps, the kind that are often served in European cafes alongside coffee. They taste sweet, spicy, and toasty. Some genius even made a spread out of them and called it "cookie butter."

When I was researching carrot cake recipes, just reading through the spices on the ingredient lists immediately made me think of Speculoos cookies. So I decided to incorporate them into a frosting and alternate spreading Speculoos frosting and cream cheese frosting between the cake layers. And sure enough, the combination of carrot cake, Speculoos, and cream cheese flavors turned out to play a perfect harmony in my mouth.

Speaking of perfect harmony, have you heard of the a capella country music group Home Free? Okay, okay, I know that was a terribly lame transition, but I just had to find a way to bring them up in conversation! This is my blog so I can do that, right? ;) I have been obsessed with Home Free lately, a fact that my husband has not been thrilled about. He claims that his disgruntled attitude toward them is because they dared to mutilate a Johnny Cash classic, "Ring of Fire," a capella style. But I think the real reason is that he doesn't enjoy seeing his wife make moon-eyes at YouTube videos of cowboy-esque guys dipping their hips and producing rapturous harmonies. The first time I heard of them was when someone recently posted this video of them singing "Oh Holy Night."

At first I started to write them off as a country music version of a boy band, but then they got my attention by hitting some really surprising notes. I was impressed enough to look them up on YouTube and realized that they had won a singing competition on NBC, "The Sing-Off," a couple years back. I started listening to each of their performances from that competition, and I practically collapsed onto their bandwagon (or pick-up truck I guess, since they're a country group). Make sure you have your bass turned up when you watch the compilation video below, especially their rendition of "Ring of Fire;" it's well worth the extra step!

Did you know that while most people can sing two to two-and-a-half octaves, Home Free's bass singer has a vocal range covering four octaves? That their lead tenor used to sing musical theatre? Yes, you're right, I know way too much trivia about them now. But if the guys of Home Free somehow someday read this blog entry, I want them to know that I would love to see them in concert, so come to southern California, pretty please?

Okay, thank you for indulging me. Now that I'm done fangirling for the moment, we can get back to talking about Christmas and cake. After we finished wishing the last of the party guests a Merry Christmas and wiping up the biggest puddles of eggnog, I took this close-up photo of our little Christmas tree to remind myself of how blessed we are.

We're not the richest, and we don't have supermodel looks or a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle. But we have cake, and friends, and our little family. And not only do we have these worldly comforts, we know the Reason for the season: Jesus Christ. Although people all over the world will be gathering in the next several hours to celebrate, eat, drink, and laugh together, the fact is that there would be nothing to celebrate in this broken world if not for the work of salvation that Jesus did on the cross. God Himself loved us and wanted a relationship with us so much that He came to earth in the form of a man to take away our sin and thereby erase the giant chasm that separated us from His perfect holiness. Now that's something worth baking a massive carrot cake for.

Leave me a comment below or send me a message if you want to talk cake, or if you want to know more about Jesus and the joy of choosing to accept His love. I will personally get back to you. Also check out the recipes below and let me know what you think. I wish you the merriest of Christmases, filled with cake, boy bands, bunnies, and whatever else makes you happy.

Thank you for sharing the sweet life with me.

Blessings,

Michelle ^_^

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Dr. Cakebake's Prescription

For Christmas Carrot Cake

*** I test-baked multiple different recipes and came up with this one, the best of all worlds. The recipe below makes one two-layer cake.

1 + 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sifted cake flour (sift flour then measure out 1/2 cup)

1 + 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I prefer sunflower oil)

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups grated carrots (easiest to use food processor with shred/grate insert)

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces chopped candied pecans or toasted pecans, plus extra for decorating if desired

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinammon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup water (or use Grand Marnier or Triple Sec if you're feeling fancy)

Place the golden raisin and the water (or Grand Marnier / Triple Sec) into a small saucepan, then place on the stove. Turn the stove on to low heat until the liquid is warm and steaming, stirring occasionally. Turn off the stove and allow the raisins to plump in the warm liquid for 20 minutes, then strain the raisins out of the liquid and set them aside.

Pre­heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Line twp 9-­inch diameter round pans with parchment paper and spray with Baker's Joy. (I advise to always wrap damp strips of towel around your pans to bake level-topped cakes, or you could use Wilton Bake Even strips.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, salt, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown sugar on low speed until no lumps remain.

With the stand mixer at low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl and paddle between eggs to make sure the eggs are well incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

Turn off the mixer and add the applesauce, ginger, and buttermilk.

Turn the mixer back on to low and slowly pour in the oil, beating until well incorporated.

Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the flour mixture in three batches. Mix gently only until no large lumps remain (if you mix until the batter is totally smooth, the cake will turn out tough and gummy).

Gently fold in the carrots, 5 ounces of pecans, and golden raisins, taking care not to overmix the batter.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hour, or until the top is a light golden brown and the tip of a sharp paring knife emerges with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Start checking on the cake once about 2/3 of the cooking time has passed, since your oven may be hotter or cooler than mine.

Remove pans from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn the cake layers out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once at room temperature, wrap the cake layers in a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour.

Unwrap the cake layers. Apply frosting between layers and on the outside of the cake. Decorate with remaining pecans if desired.

Eat. Roll your eyes with delight. Repeat. :)

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Dr. Cakebake's Prescription For Ermine Frosting

With Cream Cheese and Speculoos Cookie Butter Flavors

*** The recipe below is for frosting a two-layer cake (one batch of the recipe above). If making a four-layer cake, remember to double this recipe, and you could either use all Speculoos frosting between the layers, or do one Speculoos layer and one cream cheese layer. Yummy either way! I would keep the cake refrigerated once frosted, because this frosting will start to melt if kept out at room temperature for longer than 1-2 hours. Of note, the basic recipe for ermine frosting (before my addition of cream cheese and Speculoos and a few other adaptations) has been around for decades and has been printed identically in many publications, so I haven't given credit to any one source.

7 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 + 1/2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 + 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at a soft room temperature

1 + 1/2 cups superfine white sugar (or regular sugar if you can't find superfine)

1 jar (14.2 ounces) of Speculoos Cookie Butter or Biscoff Cookie Butter, at room temperature

1 + 1/2 bricks (12 ounces) of original Philadelphia cream cheese, at a soft room temperature

Cut the cream cheese into half-inch cubes and allow it to warm to a soft room temperature. You can speed up the process by using the "soften cream cheese" function on your microwave, but be careful to monitor it closely so it doesn't melt.

Place the flour and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until it comes to a very thick, gummy paste-like consistency.

Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl. Gently press some plastic wrap over the surface to keep a skin from forming, and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Alternatively, you could place the entire saucepan in an ice bath to cool the mixture more quickly. But don't skip the plastic wrap step, it's really important to prevent chewy little chunks from spreading all through your frosting!

Place the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer on to medium and cream the ingredients together for about 5 minutes, until the mixture appears very fluffy and almost white.

Keeping the mixer on medium, add the cooled flour mixture a spoonful at a time, waiting a few seconds between spoonfuls, until the frosting becomes very fluffy, like stiff whipped cream.

Remove the frosting from the stand mixer bowl. Place 1/3 of the frosting in a separate bowl and 2/3 of the frosting in a different bowl.

Place the softened cream cheese into the stand mixer bowl and whip it at medium speed until it becomes very light and fluffy. Remove it from the mixer and place it in a bowl.

Take the bowl with reserved 2/3 of the frosting and place it in the stand mixer bowl. With the mixer on medium-high, add the whipped cream cheese to the frosting a spoonful at a time, waiting a few seconds between spoonfuls. Continue adding the cream cheese until the mixture tastes the way you want your cream cheese frosting to taste, and the mixture is very fluffy and stiff. You'll probably add almost the entire bowl of cream cheese, dependind on your tastes. Then remove the cream cheese frosting mixture from the stand mixer and place it in a bowl.

Wipe out or wash and dry the stand mixer bowl.

Take the other reserved bowl containing 1/3 of the initial frosting and place it in the stand mixer bowl. With the mixer on medium-high, add the Speculoos Cookie Butter a spoonful at a time, waiting a few seconds between spoonfuls, until the Speculoos frosting mixture tastes the way you want it and the mixture is very fluffy and stiff. You'll probably end up adding about 1 cup of the Cookie Butter, depending on your tastes.

Use the Speculoos frosting to frost between your cake layers. I'd recommend putting about 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting between each cake layer, but I like my frosting nice and thick. Use the cream cheese frosting to frost the outside of the cake and decorate.

Eat. Smile. Share. :)

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