Carrot Cake

I have been working a long time on this recipe. The favorite cake of my little sister was a bit of a challenge, but in the end, I did come to a result, that is perfect for me and much more important, for my little sister, the hardest carrot cake critic in the world. 

Thanks to the fresh apple compote, the cake is super moist. And believe me, it is worth the effort to buy a fresh coconut and smash it with a hammer. 

„Quatre Epices“ is a spice mixture including white pepper, dried ginger, nutmeg and cloves (you can also mix it by yourself if you want) and gives the cake in combination with the cream cheese frosting the real „Carrot Cake“ Taste (or „Gschmäckle“ as we say in Franconia) . 

It tastes even better on the second day. 

Carrot Cake

for a 16 cm small cake

(Double ingredients for a bigger cake and adjust baking time)

ingredients

300g flour
250g sugar
2 ts baking soda
1 ts cinnamon
½ ts salt
½ ts quatre-épices
80g walnuts
300g shredded carots
300g shredded apples
40g shredded fresh coconut
150g sunflower oil
100g melted butter
3 eggs

450g philadelphia
70g sugar

50g shredded coconut

steps

Place the shredded apples in a saucepan and let cook for about 5 minutes until you get a half-cooked applecompote. Put aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and quatre-épices in a big bowl.
Whisk the oil, melted butter and eggs, add them to the flour-mixture and mix carefully with a spatula until well combined. Add the nuts, carots, the applecompote and coconut and fold them in.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes in 2 buttered  16 cm sized cakepans in the preheated oven at 175°C.

For the frosting mix the cream-chesse and the sugar with an electric whisk for about 3 minutes.

Cut each cake in 2 equal layers. Put a bit of the frosting on each of them, assemble the cake and glaze it with the rest of the frosting.
Sprinkle with shredded coconut.