If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Sounds cheesy but it's soo true! After successfully executing Frank's M&M and Kit Kat colorful and delicious birthday cake, I was so confident going into making a delicious carrot cake for my best friend Jeremiah's 33rd surprise birthday! And this is what happens when you get a little too confident and foolishly "clever". Baking, I must say is a new enterprise to me. In so many ways it is such a science and a bitch to figure out, however, it many ways with my sweet tooth I really do love getting elbow deep in flour, using my sweet red kitchen aid to make sweet doughs that are accompanied by sweet aromas which fill my small little apartment, and most of all: adding and subtracting and substituting parts of the recipe to my liking!
This two layered carrot cake was going to be the king of all carrot cakes and I was even going to attempt to make some mini carrots and a frog out of fondant. Boy was this a major endeavor in only having 5 hours to complete it! I used a well trusted food blog "Real Life Foodie Adventures" who posted a recipe that has been passed down through the generations and been perfected over many years. I thought I might as well try it and liked that there were substitutions in this recipe that make the cake unique and healthier. These include the addition of diced pineapple and applesauce! These keep the cake uber moist and delicate.
So I decided to get smart with the recipe and with limited time, decided to pour the entirety of the batter into one large spring form cake pan. I decided that I could bake it, cut it neatly in half, and icing the two layers after they have been cooled. BIG MISTAKE. In an effort to save time, I turned what was supposed to be an alotted 3 hour window of time to turn my cake baking fiasco into 6 hours and alotta frustration. I baked the cake at the recommended time and temperature however, no matter how long I baked it the middle always came out doughy (with my toothpick test). The longer I put it in the oven, the outside became darker and harder while the middle remained doughy. I should have gone with my original instinct to pour the cake batter into two separate cake pans to allow for evenly distributed heat and a fully cooked cake. Argggghhh...
Now that time was no longer on my side I had to think fast. I decided to scoop out the raw dough from the middle of my partially baked cake and make mini carrot cakes. Hence, the way this "twice baked carrot cake" got it's name. I took my melon baller and scooped away into my mini bite sized cupcake pan and continued to bake until my toothpick came out clean. I used the cream cheese frosting from the recipe but added a little vanilla bean to give it some extra flavor pizazz and hoorah. I used my ever-so-loved frosting piping bag to pipe a nice swirl of frosting on each cupcake. I decided to top each mini cake with a candied pecan that I bought in the peanut aisle. You wouldn't believe that candied pecans costs about half as much as buying raw pecans! I got the "pecan flavor" of whole candied pecans and I was worried about how these might take away from the flavors of the cake itself but they were a great and most delicious addition!
So some quick thinking turned a mess of a mistake into 33 little bite sized and delicious twice baked carrot cake! Exactly 33. One for each year of the birthday boy. A candle in each. One hard huff and puff of all the candles. And there you go! By the next morning these little cakes were all everyone could talk/text/facebook about! Ahhhhh....
I guess no one really has to know how the little delicious cakes came to be but it just goes to show how one can turn a major mistake into a mouthwatering miracle!
made with love,
Jas
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