Ingredients
Equipment
Method
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line 3 6” cake pans with parchment paper before setting them aside.
- Pour the raw pecans into a dry skillet and toast them until they emit a nutty aroma. Set them aside to cool.1 cup raw pecans
- Sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1½ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp kosher salt , ½ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- In a separate bowl place granulated sugar, light brown sugar, Greek yogurt, eggs, neutral oil, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.¾ cups granulated sugar, ¾ cups light brown sugar, 1 cup neutral oil, ¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt, 3 large eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Coarsely chop the pecans you toasted earlier. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in thirds and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Finally, fold in the shredded carrots and chopped pecans.2½ cups shredded carrots **
- Divide the batter across the three prepared pans. Smooth the tops of the cake with a small offset spatula and pop them in the oven. Bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in the center of the cakes and removed cleanly.
- Let the cake cool in their pans for 10 minutes before removing them. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and let them cool completely. ****
For the Curd
- While the cakes are in the oven, make the pineapple curd. Start by adding the pineapple to a food processor. Blitz until smooth. Pour the puree into a fine-mesh strainer suspended over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to force as much of the pineapple juice through as possible. Stop when you have about a cup’s worth. *****½ pineapple
- Add the egg yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine and set aside. In a small bowl place the cornstarch. Add the lemon juice. Whisk to form a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the pineapple mixture and transfer everything to a saucepan.2 large egg yolks, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, ¼ tsp salt, ½ lemon, 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until it comes to a simmer. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy. Take the pineapple curd off of the heat and immediately add the butter and stir until the butter melts. Transfer the curd to a bowl, cover, and chill for a minimum of 2 hours.2 tbsp cold unsalted butter
For the Frosting
- Place the cream cheese and butter into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. You can use a hand mixer for this as well. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth and no lumps remain.227g (8oz) cream cheese, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Sift in 3 cups of icing sugar and return the bowl to the mixer. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Start out mixing at a low speed so the sugar doesn’t go everywhere. Beat in the vanilla and set the finished frosting aside.3 cups icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract
To Assemble
- When you’re ready to assemble your cakes, slice the domes on top of your cakes off with a serrated knife. Place a cake board with a dollop of frosting on a turntable. Place your first cake layer in the center, cut-side-up.
- Spoon half of the curd in the center and pipe a border of the cream cheese frosting around it. Place another cake layer on top and repeat these steps. Finally place the final cake layer on top, cut-side-down.
- Next, use a large offset spatula to coat the entire cake in a thin layer of frosting. This is called the crumb coat. Chill the cake for 30 minutes before proceeding.
- Once the cake is chilled, pipe the remaining frosting all over the cake. Use a combination of an offset spatula and smoother to refine the final shape of the cake.
- From here you can serve the cake as is or you can try my simple bluebell-inspired design. Mix some of the leftover frosting with cornflower blue color gel and pipe little dots onto the cake using a small piping bag fitted with the smallest round piping tip you can find. Add stems to my flowers using white sprinkles.cornflower blue color gel, white sprinkles, small piping bag, small round tip
Notes
** This worked out to be about 4 carrots for me, but the number of carrots you use will depend on the size of your carrots.
*** The bluebell decoration is optional. You could serve this cake without flourish or you could simply decorate it with fresh-cut organic flowers.
**** Do not frost a warm cake, it will end badly. I like to actually chill my cakes overnight before leveling and frosting them. They are much easier to work with when they’re cold. But if you’re pressed for time, room temperature cakes will work as well.
***** You can use pineapple juice from either a can or tetra pack for this, but I think it’s too sweet. I like the tartness of fresh.