Get the tea cups out, I’ve got the perfect carrot cake
Spring is on the way and these mini tea party carrot cakes are the perfect treat for your tea time guests. I am not going to lie, they do take a bit of work, and the amasi caramel does add a whole extra step, but in my mind they are 100% worth every bit of effort.
What makes this carrot cake perfect for tea time?
First you can make the cake ahead of time and then on the day of the event you can just cut and assemble with frosting.
If you really want to make your life easy, cut the cake and store the slices in an airtight plastic container, ready to go for whenever you have guests. I even make the frosting and keep a tub in the freezer ready to go for any event. All you have to do then is defrost and assemble. You can wow your guests at a moment’s notice.
The amasi caramel will guarantee that this cake will be incredibly moist. This is also the reason it lends itself so well to freezing, even for a longer period of time. As long as it is stored correctly, once defrosted and topped with frosting it will be moist and delicious every time.
This cake is very rich. The small slices are the perfect size so as not to overwhelm. And let’s face it, they are terribly cute.
I hope you try this recipe and that you and your guests love every bite.
Pinky’s out…well maybe not.
If you want to know what else to do with an overabundance of carrots, check out my caramelize brown sugar carrot recipe.
Nonsense Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsps ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 400 grams sugar
- ¾ cup sunflower oil
- ¾ cup amasi
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated carrots
- 1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
- 100 grams desiccated coconut
- 100 grams chopped pecans
Amasi Caramel
- 200 grams sugar
- 1½ tsps baking soda
- ½ cup amasi
- 115 grams salted butter
- 1 Tbsp glucose
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 230 grams cream cheese
- 230 grams salted butter (soft NOT melted)
- 500 grams powdered sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Line one standard half sized sheet pan (13×18 inches or 33x45cm) with baking paper. Preheat oven to 175℃. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and amasi in the bowl of a stand mixer. You can also use a hand mixer or even a basic bowl and whisk. Add the flour mixture and beat just until mixed. Do not over mix. Fold in the carrots, drained pineapple, coconut, and pecans.
- Pour into prepared sheet pan and spread evenly with the spatula.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-23 minutes. Use the toothpick test to make sure it is done.
- Remove carrot cake from the oven and pour the amasi caramel over the top. Spread evenly with a spatula. Allow this to soak in. Once it is soaked in, place the sheet pan in the freezer. You need the cake to freeze in order to make clean cuts. Leave it in the freezer for at least 2 hours. (Now you can make the frosting)
- If you are going to freeze the cake from more then a few hours, be sure to wrap well with plastic wrap. You can keep it in this frozen form for weeks, if not a few months.
- When you are ready to assemble the cake, remove the sheet pan from the freezer. Using a cookie or cake cutter, or even just a ruler and knife, cut out the mini cake slices. Mine measure 7.5cm x 3.5cm. Stack these, making mini slices with cream cheese frosting between the layers and on top.
- I top mine with homemade carrot sprinkles, but you can also top them with chopped pecans.
Amasi Caramel
- While the cake is baking in the oven, make the amasi caramel.
- Place the sugar, baking soda, amasi, butter, and glucose in a large pot. The pot needs to be much bigger than you think, because the baking soda will make this mixture bubble up, so you need plenty of space.
- Allow the ingredients to heat over medium high heat. Boil, whisking constantly, for 5-10 minutes. (It all depends on how hot your stove top is, so best to judge by the color and when it slows down bubbling). It will go through many stages. First you will see flecks of orange, then the mixture will turn a pale golden color, finally it will be a deep caramel brown. Toward to end of the cooking the bubbles will begin to subside a bit as well. This is when it is done.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a whisk attachment, whip the mixture until smooth and well incorporated, about 5 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar bit by bit while the mixer continues to run at a low speed. Be careful that you do not add all of the sugar at once, or you are sure to have powdered sugar everywhere. Beat until smooth. This can take anywhere from 5-8 minutes, depending on how cold your butter and cream cheese are.
- Place this in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before trying to pipe onto the cake as it will need to harden up a bit in order to be more usable.
- Enjoy!
