Carrot Cake + CheeseCake = Slice of Heaven

Carrot Cake + CheeseCake Middle, Salted Caramel Buttercream Crumb Coat, Cream Cheese Frosting, and a Garnish of Toasted Pecans and Salted Caramel

 

 

I first fell in love with the idea of this cake about a week ago.  At that time, I baked a beautifully simple double-layer cheesecake with cream cheese frosting.  I blogged about it here, yet I couldn't stop thinking about adding a layer of cheesecake.

 

This is a 6" round cake which means I had a bit leftover for cupcakes.  The Carrot Cake recipe and the Cheesecake recipe are ideal for an 8" round cake; 9" round is doable as well.

As always when adding a cheesecake to a layer cake, I bake the cheesecake first then move onto the sponge - the cheesecake requires significantly more cooling time (and popping it into the fridge to speed the process is not a good idea).

 

Since I was baking cupcakes as well, I decided to try adding mini-cheesecakes to the mini-cakes.  I didn't quite get the ratio right - I only needed 12 cheesecakes, but I had the perfect amount of batter for a dozen cupcakes.  I believe the other half went to taste testing...

 

Nonetheless, I filled the bottom of the cupcake liner, popped in the cheesecake, and then topped each with a second treatment of Carrot Cake batter.  It was important to make sure the batter over-flowed down the sides of the center pop.



Each cooled cupcake was topped with a swirl of Salted Caramel Buttercream, a wedge of a Starbucks Caramel Waffle (found here), and a drizzle of the same Salted Caramel I'd added into the buttercream.

A single batch of Vanilla Buttercream (1 tsp vanilla) plus 5 Tbl Caramel Sauce was the proportion for the frosting. 

I love my Persimmon Fiesta Ware against the white. 

 

 

I shared these cupcakes with friends who shared them with their friends... eventually I learned that people just loved'm.  I think it was the surprise-inside cheesecake bite.  This one belongs in the win column.

 

Returning to the cake, I moved the entire build from one cake stand to another.  After I thought about it, I decided to approach decorating this cake with a less stylized aesthetic.  Switching to this tree stump of a cake stand seemed like a no-brainer for something a little more "rustic chic."  I used Wilton's cake lifter; it was a too easy.

 

For the curious, this cake stand was purchased at my local TK Maxx. 

 

 

I toasted the pecans, gave them a rough chop, sprinkled near the edge, and covered with a Salted Caramel drizzle.  This look is so lovely and the color of the stand against the frosting and the garnish is very appealing.

 

This cake was terrific to put together and I'm quite happy with the results.  Moreover, after taking the snapshots, I gave this cake away to friends at our neighborhood Starbucks.  There was plenty of  "ooohhing" and "aaahhing" and "mmmming."  I took that as a good sign.

 

Today I'm grateful for my life partner, his support, and my sobriety.  Our people are in the mix as well.