BY CASSANDRA HAMMERSTONE
April 2024
I had a good supply of spring carrots from the farmers market, and planned to share my carrot cake that’s made naysayers into enthusiasts. Cake finished and cooling, I started the frosting and stopped. Why is the cream cheese frosting-to-carrot cake ratio always disappointing? It doesn’t matter how good the carrot cake is – and trust me, this carrot cake is gooood – I always want more sweet and tangy cream cheese.
Or perhaps, what I really want is a carrot cake that’s also a cheesecake, rich with velvety cream cheese and sugar. And perhaps that carrot cake cheesecake also has an epic frosting that’s spiked with bourbon and flecked with orange zest.
This is that recipe. Moist carrot cake spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger with the perfect crumb, swirled with ribbons of classic cheesecake, baked in a Bundt pan and drizzled with cream cheese icing.
First, we’re going to make the most daunting part of carrot cake a breeze. Skip grating the carrots with a box grater and upgrade to the fine shred attachment for your food processor. You’ll stand back as it neatly, evenly and gracefully minces your carrots.
For the cake, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar, then beat in the eggs, sour cream and bourbon.
Whisk together the flour with the baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add it gradually to the wet mixture.
Stir in the carrots and set the batter aside. If you choose, you can add in walnuts or raisins, as well, up to one cup of additional mix-ins total.
For the cheesecake, beat together the room temperature cream cheese, sugar and eggs until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
Prepare a Bundt pan with ample non-stick spray or butter and flour. Layer the batters, starting and ending with the carrot cake. Specifically, start with a third of the carrot cake, then half of the cheesecake batter, another third of the carrot cake, then the remainder of the cheesecake bayyer and the remainder of the carrot cake. Gently smooth and spread the batter as you layer if needed, but be careful not to mix the layers as you do so. Rap the bundt pan on a cutting board to release and settle any air bubbles.
Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes, or until the cake is set and a cake tester inserted in the cake removes clean. Cool in the pan for around 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack to fully cool, then refrigerate to fully set the cheesecake, around 4 hours.
For the icing, zest the orange and juice both halves. With a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, zest, butter and sugar. Start with a measure of one tablespoon of bourbon and one tablespoon of orange juice and test the consistency. If additional liquid is needed, well, I’ll leave it to you to decide which to add. (The icing is delicious with just freshly-squeezed orange juice. Use discretion if serving to children.)
Drizzle the icing over the cake just before serving. This is my favorite carrot cake recipe, the one that never fails to impress, upgraded with a double dose cream cheese from the creamy cheesecake and citrusy, tangy - and boozy - icing.
Carrot Cake Cheesecake swirl with orange bourbon cream cheese icing
Season: Spring
Serves: 12
carrot cake ingredients
3 cups finely grated carrots
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter
4 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
1 tbsp bourbon
2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
cheesecake ingredients
16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
icing ingredients
Zest of one orange
1 tbsp orange juice
2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup unsalted butter
1½ cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1 tbsp bourbon
Walnuts and/or, optional
PREPARATION
Peel and grate the carrots using a box grater or the grating attachment of a food processor.
Cream the butter and the sugars. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and bourbon.
Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the carrots and set the batter aside. Here, you can also mix in walnuts or raisins, up to one cup total.
Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and eggs until the mixture is smooth.
Generously butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, or use non-stick spray. Layer the batters: Pour in a third of the carrot cake batter, then half of the cheesecake batter, a third of the cake batter, the second half of the cheesecake, then the remaining cake batter. Rap the bundt pan against a cutting board or other hard surface to settle any air bubbles in the cake. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 350°, or until the cake is set and a cake tester is dry when inserted.
Cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then invert onto a rack to fully cool. Refrigerate for four hours to fully set the cheesecake.
While the cake cools, prepare the icing. Zest the orange, then juice. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, bourbon, orange juice and orange zest. Add more bourbon or orange juice (to taste) if needed to thin out the icing. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake. Of course, use discretion when serving this to children.
