Harvest Carrot Cake

Hi Friends, and Happy Thursday!
Wow how this week is flying by!!
 Have you ever had one of those days where you desperately want to finish something,

and then all of these un-called for things happen, and

 you struggle to finish the thing you were wanting to finish.

That's how I felt about baking this cake.

First, I got a call from the school to pick my son up, drive down there, but

then I couldn't pick him up, and then I realized I forgot the canned pineapple.

An hour later, just as I started to bake the cake,

I get another phone call to pick him up, and did.

On the way home I picked up the canned pineapple,

put the cakes in the oven, by this time,

 it's time to pick my daughter up from school,

 get home, clean up the flour and carrot peeling mess,

 Go to start the chocolate frosting, and

realized I just used all the butter for the cake.

Ugh!

 Finally, I let the cakes cool, take my son to the dentist,

 and on the way back I pick up more butter!

 This is turning out to be one of those days, at least,

 on a positive note, my oven or mixer didn't break,

or anything else for that matter, so that's a good thing.

Back to the cake, the other day while standing in the check out line,
this photo a cake grabbed me, and
I just had to pick the magazine up!
It looked like a chocolate cake with
an orange spiderweb draped across it. The magazine recipe calls for melted marshmallows, I used melted white chocolate tinted orange

The cake could have been a yellow cake, or a chocolate cake,
but No
it was a Carrot Cake with Chocolate frosting!

I am so used to seeing Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese frosting in the Spring,
why not Chocolate frosting for in the Fall!
In fact this is going to be my go to recipe for both!
The cake was super moist and not too dense or too light, just perfect.
Talking about chocolate, this is a chocolate lovers dream come true!
It was perfectly rich, and creamy, and very easy to spread!
If you are looking for a Holiday dessert to make,
then you really need to try this one!

Harvest Carrot Cake with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

For the Chocolate Ganache frosting:

1 stick of butter
12 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of  heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the Carrot Cake: (adapted from Mommy On Time Out)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup crushed Dole pineapple, undrained in own juice
3/4 pound of shredded carrots (about 7 or 8)
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
4 eggs
1 cup of unsalted butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2- 9in round cake pans.
2. In a stand up mixer, cream butter and both sugars, until light and fluffy.
3. Add one egg at a time, and mix until well blended. Scraping down the sides of the bowl, after each egg is added.
4. Add vanilla, and mix in pineapple, applesauce, pecans and carrots.
5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
6. Add half the flour mixture to the carrot batter, mix until well blended. Scrape down the sides of bowl, and repeat with the other half of the flour mixture.
7. Divide the cake batter between the two cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the sides of the cakes pull away from the sides of the pans, the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched, or  using a toothpick insert into cake, and if it comes out clean, then the cake is done.
8. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting:

1.) While the cake is baking, in a medium sauce pan, over low heat, warm the cream, and butter. Do Not Boil! Only heat the mixture until the butter melts. Then add the chocolate chips.
2. Stir until the mixture is well blended. You can either set aside the frosting to cool completely for 2 hours, or I stick mine in the fridge for 20 minutes until it is just about cooled.
3. In a stand up mixer, begin to beat the chocolate frosting. On low setting add the powdered sugar, until the frosting has thickened, becoming nice and creamy, and very spreadable.

Decorating:

Melt 6 oz of white chocolate. DO NOT BOIL or you will burn the chocolate. Add 1 to 2 Tbls. of milk. Stir until blended and creamy. To make orange chocolate, add 4 drops of yellow, and 2 drops of red. I used a small plastic bag, and cut the corner off to make a very small decorating tip, or you can use Wilton's tip #2. The chocolate will get hard when it cools, so you will need to work quick, or keep reheating the chocolate slightly, being careful not to overcook the chocolate.

As always I've saved a nice big slice for you!

Until next time!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
xo,

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