Lúcia’s Baked Spicy Carrot Halwa Cake

Recipe by Lúcia Dos Ramos
See more of Lúcia’s creations: instagram.com/lucygabi

Lúcia's Baked Spicy Carrot Halwa Cake

Winning Viewer Recipe

A carrot semolina sponge with crushed cardamom and cinnamon, doused in a saffron and cardamom glaze. Three layers of sponge wedged together with a sweet vanilla cream. A cream cheese frosting covers the cake. This semi-naked cake is crowned with snapdragon flowers and sprinkled with crushed pistachios.

Cake

2 eggs
1 cup yoghurt
2 carrots peeled and chopped roughly
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup semolina
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp Royal Baking Powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup ground almonds
100ml oil

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease 15cm cake pan (grease three 15cm cake pans if you would like to make three tiers).
  2. In a food processor, blitz the carrots
  3. In a medium bowl, add blitzed carrots and yoghurt and mix together.
  4. In a bowl of a stand mixer, mix together eggs, yoghurt/carrot mix, sugar, ground cardamom, cinnamon, semolina powder, oil and ground almonds.
  5. Sift in self raising flour and Royal Baking Powder and mix.
  6. Pour mixture into the 15cm greased cake pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean, on 180°C.
  7. Once cake has baked, remove from tin and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

* I quantified (multiplied) the ingredients by three to make a three-tiered cake. 

Saffron & Cardamom Glaze

1/3 cup castor sugar
1 tin evaporated milk
Pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

  1. Using a stick blender, mix together castor sugar, evaporated milk, saffron and cardamon in a bowl.
  2. Gently pour glaze over cooled cake.
  3. Allow the cake to cool, thereafter refrigerate.

* I quantified (multiplied) the recipe by three to make a three-tiered cake.

Sweet Vanilla Cream

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 tblsp castor sugar
2 tsp vanilla

  1. In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, whip together cream, castor sugar and vanilla and spread over cooled cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

80g butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
125g smooth cream cheese

*  I quantified (multiplied) the ingredients by two to ice a three tiered cake. 

  1. Cream butter and icing sugar together in a bowl using a hand mixer.
  2. Add vanilla essence and incorporate the cream cheese lightly until just smooth.
  3. Do not over-mix.

Assembly

  1. Ice the top and outside of cake using a spatula.
  2. Sprinkle with pistachios & gently place snapdragon flowers on top of cake as you see fit.
  3. Slice the cake and serve.
  4. Best served at room temperature.