Carrot Halwa Cake

Carrot Halwa Cake

This is one of my first original cake recipes or at least I thought it was. When I googled Carrot Halwa Cake, I found a few other recipes, but this is my version of it before I knew it was done before. Carrot Halwa is an Indian dessert that is like carrot pudding. I put it to the next level by adding candied fennel seeds, gulab jamun (fried milk solid balls in syrup) and ginger whipped cream frosting.

I started with the concept after I told my friends I'll make a cake for their baby shower. Originally, gulab jamun cheesecake was thrown out there, but I wanted to do something different. I researched different Indian desserts and though Carrot Halwa would be perfect to make into a cake. I took parts of different recipes, baked several experimental cupcake and cakes, and ended up with this. I still might do some tweaking, but I am pretty happy with the results. I broke down the following recipe into a carrot halwa, cake, frosting, and assembly section. Let me know your results. For the cake shown above, I made a half sheet pan portion, but you could easily half everything for a smaller portion. Please make the carrot halwa and cake on a different day than assembly. Doing everything in one shot is too much to do in one day.

Carrot Halwa

First you have to make carrot halwa. I quadrupled this recipe: http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/gajar-ka-halwa-carrot-halwa/

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) of unsalted butter
720 grams (8 cups) of shredded carrots
24 ounces of evaporated milk
1 cup of granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons of cardamom

1. Start by melting 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) of unsalted butter in a huge skillet. A small pan will not be big enough!

2. Once the butter is all melted, add in 720 grams of shredded carrots.

3. Cook the carrots down for 15-20 minutes on medium high heat until they soften and dull in color. You may start off toasting the cashews or making the cake batter at this time if you feel comfortable multitasking.

4. Add in two 12 ounces cans of evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk). The original recipe calls for evaporating the milk yourself. I did it that way for many of the experimental versions and think it is better that way, but evaporating 8 cups of milk into 4 cups would take forever!

 

5. Stir around the carrots until most of the milk has evaporated. This will take a long time because there is a whole lot of milk in there. It takes me 30-35 minutes. Make sure you scrape the bottom as you go. The carrots will smell and look like mac and cheese.

6. Once most of the milk evaporated, add in 1 cup of granulated sugar and two teaspoons of cardamom. Cardamom is a spice commonly used in the Middle East and South Asia. It has a sweet floral taste. It is very expensive, but do not skimp! This is what makes it an Indian dessert.

7. Once you add the sugar and cardamom, the carrot mixture will get liquidy again. Cook it down for about 15-20 more minutes until the liquid evaporates. Again, make sure you stir around the carrots and scrape the bottom

  Let the carrot halwa cool and try not to eat it all. That will be tough.

Cake

I searched for a simple oil based cake recipe that would let the carrot halwa shine. I was against using a butter based recipe because the butter in cakes needs a good amount of sugar in the initial creaming process. I went with this oil based recipe (https://www.flavoryandsavory.com/basic-yellow-cake-without-butter-recipe) and adjusted the oil and sugar to take into account the butter and sugar that is in the carrot halwa. While you do not get a butter taste, oil based recipes have the bonus of staying moist.

Ingredients:
4 large egg
180 grams of granulated white sugar

1 cup of milk

2.25 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

312 grams all purpose flour

100 grams of neutral tasting oil (I used canola)

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 cups of roasted cashews (roughly chopped and toasted without oil in a pan for a minute)

carrot halwa

1.5 - 3 tablespoons of candied fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of cardamom
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix 4 egg with 180 grams of granulated white sugar with a whisk in a large bowl for a minute until it becomes frothy and bubbly.

2. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, milk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk until combined, but do not over whisk.

3. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients.

4. Prepare a half sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper. I trimmed in so that the parchment paper fit exactly in the short dimension, but have overhand in the long dimension. I put the trimmings below the parchment paper to help take the cake out once it is done. Spray with Pam.

5. Pour the batter into the pan and level with a spatula. 

6. Bake for 18 - 23 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out dry or if it is solid and springy to the touch.

7. Carefully lift the cake onto a cooling rack (or two if they are small like mine). Cut the half sheet into two quarter sheets.

8. Once they have completely cooled, wrap each quarter sheet with two layers of plastic wrap. Place them on top of each other and wrap with aluminum foil. Place them in the freezer. On the day you assemble the cake, place the cake in the fridge the morning of.

Ginger Whipped Cream Frosting

I have to be honest, this isn't the recipe I wanted to go for, but I could not find kosher or vegetarian gelatin, or agar powder. I had to go with this recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/140837/sturdy-whipped-cream-frosting/) which was not as firm as I'd wish. A recipe with agar powder would have been better. I would of also increased this recipe by 50% to ensure I had enough frosting

Ingredients:
4 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter
16 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
2 cup of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of ginger powder (I think I would have used 3/4 of a teaspoon)

1. Put your stand mixture bowl and whisk attachment in the the morning of.

2. 20 minutes before you start making your frosting, put the whipped cream in the freezer.

3. Whip the cream and cream of tarter until you get stiff peaks. Start the speed on low and gradually raise it to high. It will be whipped before you know it.

4. Scrape all the whipped cream into another bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge while you prep the rest of the ingredients. Clean the stand mixer bowl since you'll need it again.

5. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment add in the rest of the ingredients. Start the mixer on low and graduate raise to medium high speed. Mix until the cream cheese mixture is well beaten, about 3-5 minutes depending on how warm the cream cheese is.

6. Take a spatula full of whipped cream and mix it into the cream cheese mixture to loosen it up.

7. Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Assembly

You are almost there!

Ingredients:
Cake
Whipped cream frosting
12 gulab jamun balls cut in half
Candied fennel seeds

1. Trim your quarter sheet cakes so they are pretty and equal.

2. Place one of your cakes on the decorating surface.

3. Cover in a thin layer of frosting.

4. Sprinkle with candied fennel seeds.

5. Add all the gulab jamun. Make sure you shake off the excess syrup. I wish there was extra gulab jamun, but there wasn't :(

6. Cover the gulab jamun with frosting.

7. Gently place the second layer of cake on top.

8. Add the rest of the frosting on top and on the sides of the cake.

9. Cover the top and sides of the cake with candied fennel seeds. I had some leftover cake scraps, so I crumbed them up and placed the crumbs on the sides. Leave the cake in its storage container in the fridge until it is ready to serve. Enjoy!

 

Protein Crepes

Protein Crepes

When I discovered Power Cakes pancake mix at Costco, I instantly fell in love and started making pancakes from it. On whim, I tried to make crepes from it. This protein packed recipe (note that is not powdered sugar on the picture, it is protein powder) will have you wanting more. I had success on the first try and so will you!

The macros are (with non-fat milk): 295 calories, 2.3 grams fat, 37.1 grams carbs, 31.4 grams protein.

Recipe (Makes 1 portion, feel free to double, triple, etc.)

1. Combine 1/2 a cup of each of the following: power cakes mix, milk of your choice, and liquid egg whites in a bowl with a whisk. Liquid egg whites are sold where eggs are usually found in the grocery store. They are a great alternative to separating eggs yourself. They are especially good if you have no use for the yolks. If you do need egg yolks, feel free to use egg whites from whole eggs.

 

 

2. Heat up a medium sized pan.

3. Spray the pan generously with Pam. Pour a little bit on the crepe batter into the pan.

4. Swirl the the batter around the pan right away. It is all in your wrist. Don't be afraid to go up the sides.

5. Once the edges start to curl up, it is time to flip. I just use my hands. The crepes are sturdy.

6. Once  the edges start to curl up again. The crepe is ready. The curl won't be as pronounced as before.

 

 

7. Repeat steps 3-6 on the remaining batter, especially the part about the Pam.

I like to make crepes with powdered peanut butter or peanut flour. Combine two tablespoons of the powder/flour with a little bit of milk at a time until you get the desired consistency. I like to have it will a little bit of jelly to make a PB & J crepe or marshmallow fluff to get fluffernutter crepe.

Bagel Bombs

Bagel Bombs

 

Many of the recipes in Momofuku Milk Bar seem intimidating and honestly I would not recommend most of them to beginners. Bagel bombs are one of the recipes that I would recommend to those starting out.  Bagel bombs are essentially large bagel bites with cream cheese in the middle. Besides needing a stand mixture, you do not need too much baking experience to make these. I will not include specific amounts of ingredients since this recipe is not available on the Momofuku Milk Mar website.

Cream Cheese Plugs

Cream cheese plugs are premolded enhanced cream cheese balls that are frozen. The original recipe used really bacon, but I used fake bacon. The original recipe also calls for scallions, but I don't like them so I kept them out.

1. Put cream cheese (I used Neufchâtel cheese) in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium high.

2. Add in fake bacon, salt, and sugar. Mix again. I would leave out the salt next time.

3. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop and weight out individual balls of cream cheese. I calculated about 28 grams per plug.

4. Place the plugs in the freezer for at least a couple of hours.

Mother Dough

The Milk Bar cookbook uses mother dough for croissants, cinnamon bun pie, and many other recipes. We will use it to make the "bagel" dough.

1. Combine salt,  flour, and active dry yeast in a stand mixture. Try to keep the salt and yeast separate before you mix.

Mix with the dough hook.

2. Add in room temperature water and mix with the dough hook using your hand until the dough gets a shaggy consistency.

3. Attach the hook attachment to the mixture and knead on low until the dough looks smooth. Knead some more.

4. Brush another metal bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough proof in a warm and dry part of your kitchen for 45 minutes. Proofing is the process of letting the yeast in dough convert sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide. This makes the dough rise.

5. This is a good time to make the everything bagel mix. This is a combination of salt (use half the recipe amount), white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried onion, onion powder, and garlic powder. 

5. Divide the dough in equal portions. 

6. Take one of the dough balls and flatten it out with your hands.

7. Take one of the cream cheese plugs and place it on the center of the disk. Wrap the dough around the cream cheese plug. It is sort of like wrapping one of your hands around the other in a fist.

8. Roll the the ball between your two hands until the ball is smooth.

9. Repeat for the rest of your dough and cream cheese plugs.

10. Apply egg wash (egg whisked with water) all over each ball. Sprinkle the everything mixture all over the balls. Don't skimp on the egg wash or the everything mixture.

11. Bake!

Stay tuned for next week's blog post.