Western News: November 19, 2019

WESTERN NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Tuesday November 19 2019 15
Tasty Bites
How to make a cake taste as good as it looks
There is not much better
than a cup of tea or
coffee and a slice of cake,
especially when it almost
looks too good to eat. Here’s
one you can easily decorate
yourself
Morning Magpie’s carrot
cake
For the cake
2 free-range eggs and 2 freerange
egg yolks
4 free range egg whites
320g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
400g neutral-tasting oil such as
sunflower or canola
540g white sugar
100g chopped walnuts
100g desiccated coconut
270g peeled and grated carrot
(about two carrots)
For the icing
525g cream cheese
210g softened (to room
temperature) butter
105g icing sugar
75g honey
fresh thyme
Directions
Cake
Separate the eggs (six in total).
Put the whole eggs and yolks
in one bowl, and the whites in
another large, clean and dry
metal bowl.
You will be left with two
spare egg yolks (with a little
imagination you can find a way
to put them to good use in some
other noble kitchen endeavour).
Add a pinch of salt to the egg
whites and, with an electric
beater, whisk until they form
stiff white peaks (the salt helps to
stabilise them). Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the
sugar and oil on high for 2min.
Add the whole eggs and egg
yolks, continuing to mix until
incorporated.
Use a rubber spatula to mix the
walnuts, coconut, and carrot into
the creamed oil and eggs.
Sift the flour, baking powder
and soda, and spices into the wet
mix, and delicately fold through.
Fold one-third of the whipped
egg whites into the rest of the
batter, followed by the rest of
them. Don’t worry if there are a
few streaks of white left – this is
far preferable to over-mixing the
cake batter.
Divide the
batter between
two greased
round silicon cake
moulds. Make sure
to weigh as you
are filling them,
so that the two
rounds end up
evenly sized.
Bake in the
centre of the oven
for 40min at 160
deg C.
After baking,
let the cake cool
completely in the
moulds (at least
four hours).
If you are
leaving it
overnight before
icing – this is a
good idea – wrap
the rounds in cling
film once cooled and removed
from moulds.
Assembly and decoration
Make sure all ingredients are at
room temperature, and also clear
a shelf in your fridge that a large
chopping board will fit on.
In a large bowl, beat the
cream cheese on high for about
4min, until it takes on a silky
consistency. Beat in the butter.
Add the icing sugar and honey,
and reduce the beater to a lower
speed until they are fully mixed
through. Then your icing is
ready.
If the cake rose into a dome
shape while baking, remove the
rounded top with a bread knife
to make sure both rounds are
level.
Place one cake round on a
large chopping board, and spread
a 1cm thick layer of icing on top
of it. Stack the other round on
it, making sure the two are well
aligned. Don’t worry if some of
the filling comes out the sides.
Use an offset spatula to spread
a thin layer of icing over the top
and sides of the assembled cake.
It doesn’t matter if you can see
the cake through this layer. Once
it is covered, place the cake in the
fridge for one hour. When this
first layer of icing sets, it prevents
any dark cake crumbs getting
mixed up in the final layer of
white icing.
Once the first layer is set,
remove the cake from the fridge
and apply the rest of the icing as
you see fit. You can put a thick
layer on the top and a scant layer
around the sides, but this is just
a matter of taste – you should
experiment and find a style you
like. Chill the cake for another
hour before cutting. Garnish
with fresh thyme leaves and flaky
sea salt. Use a hot bread knife to
cut the cake, cleaning it between
each slice.
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