what's up doc?

I love Bourke Street Bakery. I used to live across the road from them (not the original but the one at Alexandria) and became hooked ever since.

I now live about 16,000 km from my closest Bourke Street Bakery or about a 23 hour plane ride away. To say I'm frustrated that I'm not getting my weekly dose of carrot cake or sausage rolls is putting it lightly. So when they released their much anticipated book last spring, I got my hands on a copy earlier this year and have been giving some of their recipes a test run.

I love carrot cakes and especially love BSB's version. I think the fact that meringue is added gives it a nice airy texture and a crisp top which makes its quite different to any other carrot cake I've ever devoured.

I've added a bit more cream cheese, icing sugar and carrots than what is called for in the original recipe so you may also wish to adapt as per your taste buds.

super moist cake base

cream cheese filling

the finished product

the humble carrot cake
adapted from Bourke Street Bakery book
created: 22 August 2011


[ingredients]:

for the cake

• 165g          carrots (peeled and grated)
• 150g          self raising flour
• 170ml        extra light olive oil
• 75g           walnuts
• 1/8tsp       baking powder
• 1/8tsp       bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4tsp       ground cinnamon
• 1/8tsp       ground cloves
• 1/8tsp       ground nutmeg
• 1/4tsp       salt
• 2              egg whites
• 60g           castor sugar (for egg whites)
• 1              egg
• 1              egg yolk
• 160g         castor sugar (for egg yolks)

cream cheese frosting

• 20g           butter (softened)
• 25g           icing sugar
• 200g         cream cheese (I used philly)
• 50ml         whipping/pouring cream

[method]:

• Preheat the oven to 200⁰C (fan force oven).
• Grease one 20cm round cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper, allowing the baking paper to protrude about an inch above the cake tin.
• Place the walnuts in a baking tray and roast for around 3-4 mins or until lightly toasted. Allow to cool and roughly chop the walnuts, taking care not to chop them too fine. 
• Sift the flour, baking soda, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt and repeat to ensure an even mix. 
• Place the egg whites in the mixing bowl of the electric mixer. Ensure bowl is scrupulously clean, otherwise the meringue will not form properly.
• Whisk the egg whites on high setting until soft peaks are formed, all the while slowly adding the sugar while the motor is running. Do not add the sugar all at once, otherwise your meringue may fail.
• Transfer to a clean bowl, taking care not to over handle the mixture.
• Place the egg and egg yolk in the mixing bowl of the electric mixer and whisk on high setting for approximately 3 minutes, all the while slowly adding the sugar to the eggs. When the mixture has doubled in volume, slowly pour the oil into the mixture in a steady stream. Take care not to rush this step as it may result in the mixture splitting or deflating considerably.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold through the carrots and walnuts. Finally, quickly and gently fold through the meringue. You do not need to mix this through, instead you should still be able to see streaks of meringue through the mixture. 
• Transfer into the cake tin and bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour. You may need to reduce the temperature from 200⁰C to 180⁰C if the top starts to brown too quickly within the first half of the baking period.
• Test with a skewer at around 50 minutes and if it comes out clean, then the cake is baked through and you may end the baking process, otherwise continue until the hour is up or until the cake is baked through.
• Allow the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes in the tin before turning it onto a cooling rack. Cool for another hour.

• For the cream cheese frosting, cream the butter and icing sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth. 
• Then add in small amounts of the cream cheese, allowing each portion to be completely incorporated before adding the next portion. 
• Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure a smooth even mixture.
• When all the cream cheese have been incorporated, add the whipping/pouring cream and mix well. The mixture should be spreadable and not too runny.

• To assemble the cake, slice the cake horizontally into 2 even halves and fill with the cream cheese frosting. Lightly dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.

Serves: 8


Preparation time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes