Tropical Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting BA 4/03

[pbchipses]

I made the Tropical Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting from the layer cake article from the April 2003 Bon Appetit.

It is a moist delicious cake, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the 1 cup of oil in the batter! I didn't try to do any lightening, except for I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese in the frosting. Technically, the cake is easy to make, too.

The flavor of the cake is pretty complex; there are a lot of things going on! The cake is a little crunchy from the macadamia nuts and coconut, and you also get a pleasant taste of carrots and pineapple. Then sometimes you'll get a bite of the crystallized ginger. The coconut frosting tastes a little fake, but maybe I used a little too much imitation coconut extract. It's still good though!

I highly recommend this cake. If you like all the ingredients in it, you would like it! It's a carrot cake with a twist!

[valchemist]

I'm sure I would love it. Thanks for the review, Sarah.

[lisas3575]

I was at the bookstore this weekend and saw that Cooks Illustrated is featuring Carrot Cake this month. :) Has anybody got their copy yet?

[TeriK]

Oooh, sounds delightful. I'll never make it though because I'm the only one in the house who'd go for it. After eating nearly an entrie German chocolate cake for my birthday by myself (I'm the only one who likes that one too), I can't afford another whole cake. LOL. But thanks for the review. I'm living vicariously!

[emily]

I'm planning on making some sort of carrot cake this Thursday for a friend's birthday and am glad to hear a review of the BA one! Although, now that Lisa's mentioned that the CI version is out there too, I think I'll take a look at that one as well :) So many choices ...

Emily

[Luika]

This cake sounds superb. Would anyone mind posting the recipe. THANKS!

[Angela]

Oh, please post the recipe...it sounds great!!

[Leonard]

Thanks so much for the review. I can't seem to stop looking at the picture of this cake! My DH's daughter and grandchildren are coming for dinner on Sunday. DH says the kids won't like this cake. I have to agree with him. He wants me to make the "Boston Cream Cake" from the Cake Mix Doctor. I made it for one of my Easter desserts last year. Everyone raved. I'll have to wait for another excuse to make this one. I know I could eat that whole cake!

[funnybone]

Originally posted by Angela
Oh, please post the recipe...it sounds great!!

I can post it in a little bit. I have to scan it on my computer and edit. Can you wait?:D

[funnybone]

Here it is:

TROPICAL CARROT CAKE WITH COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

This cake can be prepared one day ahead. Sweetened cream of coconut is available in the liquor section of most supermarkets.

8 TO 10 SERVINGS

CAKE
2 1/3 cups sifted all purpose flour (sifted, then measured)
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup dry-roasted macadamia nuts
3/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated peeled carrots
2 8-ounce cans crushed pineapple in its own juice, well drained

FROSTING
3 8-ounce packages Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Lopez)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (scant) coconut extract
14 whole dry-roasted macadamia nuts
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger


FOR CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 °F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper. Combine 1/3 cup flour and next 3 ingredients in processor. Process until nuts are finely chopped. Whisk remaining 2 cups flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl to blend.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in coconut-macadamia mixture, then carrots and crushed pineapple.

Divide batter among pans. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 1 hour. Run knife around edge of pans to loosen cakes. Turn cakes out onto racks; cool completely.

FOR FROSTING: Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, then cream of coconut and both extracts. Chill until firm enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over top of cake. Top with second cake layer, flat side up. Spread 3/4 cup frosting over. Top with third cake layer, rounded side up, pressing slightly to adhere. Spread thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake. Chill cake and remaining frosting 30 minutes. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange whole nuts and ginger around top edge of cake. Chill 1 hour.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and chill. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)


Bon Appetit
April 2003, page 112

[funnybone]

Um, I put it in MC and this is what I get for 10 servings. Now something is obviously wrong! :confused:



Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2553 Calories; 215g Fat (74.0% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 142g Carbohydrate; 22g Dietary Fiber; 201mg Cholesterol; 679mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 41 1/2 Fat; 6 Other Carbohydrates.

[Luika]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
After a recent trip to Hawaii, this cake seems right up my alley for an upcoming birthday cake. I even brought back macadamia nuts!
Mahalo!! :p

[valchemist]

Originally posted by funnybone
Um, I put it in MC and this is what I get for 10 servings. Now something is obviously wrong! :confused:



Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2553 Calories; 215g Fat (74.0% calories from fat); 28g Protein; 142g Carbohydrate; 22g Dietary Fiber; 201mg Cholesterol; 679mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 41 1/2 Fat; 6 Other Carbohydrates.

that is what I got, initially. but I realized what the problem was. Mastercook doesn't recognize 14 "Whole" macadamias. I just assumed that would be about 1 cup and I plugged that value in.

here is the nutritional info. brace yourself:

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 1283 Calories; 82g Fat (55.9% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 132g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 187mg Cholesterol; 670mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 15 1/2 Fat; 6 Other Carbohydrates.

[valchemist]

p.s. that is worse than the lemon cake. but then again, the lemon cake had 12 servings and this one has 10.

[naomike]

Argh!!! That is the kind of info I'd prefer not to know (and yet it's better to know, isn't it) . . .

Naomi

[funnybone]

Originally posted by valchemist


that is what I got, initially. but I realized what the problem was. Mastercook doesn't recognize 14 "Whole" macadamias. I just assumed that would be about 1 cup and I plugged that value in.

here is the nutritional info. brace yourself:

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 1283 Calories; 82g Fat (55.9% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 132g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 187mg Cholesterol; 670mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit; 15 1/2 Fat; 6 Other Carbohydrates.

Holy - I'm not a calorie counter, but this one really had me floored! :( :confused: The recipe should be illegal! I could honestly see getting more like 14 to 16 servings though.

[emily]

Thanks for posting the recipe and boo for posting the nutritional information ;)

1,000+ calories or not, it's on the menu for Thursday night (unless I can convince the birthday girl to wait until next week as the Barbie cake is on the menu for Wednesday - hey it's not my fault all my friends were born in March :o)

Em

[pbchipses]

Well, I actually made this at my mom's house, and she only had two cake pans. I just made a double layer cake and used the rest of the batter to make mini muffins. I've been snacking on the muffins, so I bet a few mini muffins wouldn't be that bad calorie-wise!

[Angela]

Thanks for posting the recipe! But, yikes what a ton of calories and fat!!! I'm sure it's worth every gram of evil....

[emily]

Angela, you were right, this is worth every gram of evil. "This is the best cake yet..." were the comments coming from my kitchen last night. Personally, I would have preferred more pineapple, but it is a supremely moist cake (no doubt the oil and 4 eggs!) and a wonderful flavor. I was expecting more of a coconut taste in the frosting, but that was very subtle, so I coated the outside of the cake in coconut. If you're looking for a fabulous jazzed up carrot cake, this gets my vote.

Oh, and we easily could get 20 servings out of this cake. Since it's made of three thick layers, you only need a small sliver. That has to help the calorie count right ;)

Oh, and since I'm hooked on my new digital camera, here's a photo :D

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid55/pe0640db25c3e6aa7430a5c47bd632584/fc7a2b9d.jpg

Emily

[valchemist]

It looks soooo yummy, emily. Gosh, maybe this will be the cake I bake for DH's birthday on April 2 (instead of the Italian Cream Cake).

[Leonard]

Emily: What a beautiful cake you made!!!!! It's looks delicious! I still haven't made it yet. I think my Dad's fiance is having Easter so maybe I'll make it for that. It's sounds perfect for a special dinner!

[Angela]

Emily--great looking cake!! Glad to hear it's great!

[funnybone]

Beautiful creation, Emily!!! Can I place my order for one about a month from now?:D

[emily]

Originally posted by funnybone
Beautiful creation, Emily!!! Can I place my order for one about a month from now?:D

Sure! But I think the shipping would kill you - did I mention this is a heavy cake that needs to be carried with the utmost caution, so of course I'd want to deliver it myself ;) :p

Emily

[funnybone]

Originally posted by emily


Sure! But I think the shipping would kill you - did I mention this is a heavy cake that needs to be carried with the utmost caution, so of course I'd want to deliver it myself ;) :p

Emily

Anytime after the 31st (when we move into our new house in IL) :D

[claire797]

Originally posted by valchemist
It looks soooo yummy, emily. Gosh, maybe this will be the cake I bake for DH's birthday on April 2 (instead of the Italian Cream Cake).

Valerie, the Italian Cream Cake is good, but this carrot cake has got to be much better.

[claire797]

Originally posted by funnybone


Holy - I'm not a calorie counter, but this one really had me floored! :( :confused: The recipe should be illegal! I could honestly see getting more like 14 to 16 servings though.

....or maybe even 20. Keep in mind that ounce per ounce, there's not a huge difference in calorie count. For instance, a 3 ounce piece of the Italian Cream Cake (which is 1/20th of the recipe) has about 300 calories -- or 100 calories per weight oz. I'm guessing that 1/20 of this cake weight in at about 4 ounces and would be about 600 calories -- 150 calories per weight oz. 150 calories per oz is the same richness as straight chocolate. It's a rich cake but it's probably the kind of cake you'd want to slice rather thin.

[Luika]

Any thoughts on making this as a sheet cake? Do you think it would turn out well?

It just seems as it would be difficult to slice this tall cake so thinly... maybe a sheet cake would alleviate that problem and provide small pieces.

[Kathy B]

I think you would probably be fine to make this as a sheet cake as long as you have a sheet pan with fairly deep sides (1& 1/2 in. or more) since it makes THREE 9-in round pans. You would just need to adjust your baking time accordingly. The only problem might be storing it in the frig as you would have a much larger pan, but it would certainly make it easier to cut small pieces.

I think the 1 c. of macadamia nuts is as much the reason for the high calorie/fat content as the oil and eggs. I think that it would be fairly easy to lighten this a bit by
- using egg substitute
- reduce the amount of nuts
- substitute another liquid for some of the oil (pineapple juice, buttermilk, or milk)
- use light cream chees for the icing

Any or all of these things could be done to lighten it up. If there is no way to lighten a recipe, and it is really delicious, I will make it anyway and just enjoy it. When there are easy ways to lighten it without changing the overall outcome, however, I always do it.

[emily]

I think it would be great as a sheet cake! And I think that some of Kathy's subsitutions would work as well. I would leave in most of the nuts as they add a great flavor to the cake, although you could cut back on the ones on top (I used macadamia pieces, not sure how many but definitely less that 14). I think you could easily sub half buttermilk for half the oil.

Oh, and when I made the frosting I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese and only (ha!) one stick of butter as opposed to the 1 1/2 called for.

Emily

[valchemist]

I was digging around through all the carrot cake recipes on the BB. I compared all the recipes -- amounts and types of ingredients, etc.

I decided that I liked the looks of the Cracker Barrel recipe even better than this Tropical Carrot Cake recipe (I didn't want the macadamias and crystallized ginger in the cake because that was a little too untraditional...I want a more traditional carrot cake). The two actually call for similar amounts of ingredients but the Cracker Barrel recipe is baked in a 13x9 pan. So, to answer Luika's question, I think this Tropical Carrot Cake would work in a 13x9 for sure. You wouldn't need all of that frosting, though. You could easily cut the frosting recipe in half if you were just going to leave it in the pan and frost the top.

Anyway, I think for my next dessert (a couple of weeks from now) I will bake the Cracker Barrel cake and will use the Tropical Carrot Cake frosting recipe since we love coconut. The Cracker Barrel cake has coconut in the batter, but I think the coconut in the frosting will give it that extra coconut punch we would love.

Just some rambling thoughts from Val....

[wallycat]

nothing to add except that I'm droooooooooooooooling :D :p :p

Val, I haven't tried a search for the cracker barrel one...is it posted somewhere??

My neighbor's b-day is in april and carrot cake is her favorite :)

[valchemist]

p.s.

here is the cracker barrel recipe


* Exported from MasterCook *

Carrot Cake from The Cracker Barrel

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 18 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Desserts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3/4 c Finely chopped English walnuts
2 c Finely shredded carrots
1 c Crushed pineapple (8oz can with juice)
1/2 c Finely shredded coconut
1/2 c Raisins that have been soaked in water
until plump and then drained
1 1/4 c Vegetable oil
1 1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Brown sugar
3 Eggs
3 c Flour
2 tsp Baking powder
2 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp Salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz Cream cheese
1/2 c butter -- at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 c Powdered sugar
1/2 c Chopped pecans for garnish

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and
cloves. Set aside. In a large bowl mix with beater oil, sugars, vanilla and
eggs until smooth and fluffy. Add pineapple, walnuts, coconut, carrots, and
raisins and blend well. Gradually add flour mixture a half at a time until
blended through.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 9"x13" pan and bake at 350 for about
40-50 min. Test with toothpick for doneness. When cool frost with cream
cheese frosting.



Blend cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and a little
powder sugar at a time until all has been blend well. Turn mixer on high
and beat until frosting is light and fluffy. Spread frosting over the cooled
cake and sprinkle with pecans.

[wallycat]

Thanks Val!
I'm droooooooooling again :p

Think I'll go have some chocolate ice-cream to stifle my drool :D

[aggie94]

I'm surprised that no one else had problems with the frosting. I made this cake yesterday, and Rebecca(T) came over after we met for dinner to help me assemble/frost it and to sample a piece. :)

The frosting had been chilling for at least 2 hours, but it was still pourable. I followed the recipe exactly, except using 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, but no one else mentioned any problems with that. We tried adding an additional cup of powdered sugar to help it set up, but it didn't make any difference. The result was that the cake layers tended to slide around, and the frosting sort of dripped off the sides of the cake and pooled around the bottom. :( The cake has been in the fridge overnight now, so hopefully it is better today.

So while appearances weren't that great, the cake still tasted delicious. That said, though, I really didn't notice any difference between this and any other carrot cake I've made. I wouldn't have known there were any macadamia nuts or crystallized ginger in the batter if I hadn't made it myself. And the coconut flavor in the frosting was VERY subtle. The cake is very good, but I was hoping for something just a little bit different than your traditional carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting, for the effort and expense of ingredients.

NOW, what to do with all the leftover frosting?? It made a ton!

[claire797]

Originally posted by aggie94
I'm surprised that no one else had problems with the frosting. I made this cake yesterday, and Rebecca(T) came over after we met for dinner to help me assemble/frost it and to sample a piece. :)



I was lucky enough to get a piece of this cake today and it was deeeeeeeelicious. The ginger, coconut and extra pineapple were not overpowering, and really added extra dimension to the cake. My plan was to eat a tiny piece, but once I got started I couldn't stop because it was soooo good.