Tag Archives: carrots

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake sliceOne of the constant challenges of owning a bakery is coming up with new items to entice the clientele.  This Carrot Cake Cheesecake was one of the more unusual cakes we featured from time to time.

It consists of two layers of carrot cake sandwiched with a creamy cheesecake and finished with the traditional cream cheese frosting.

When I made this for the blog, I forgot to water bath the cheesecake layer.  I thought you would enjoy seeing the difference between the water bathed layer and the one I forgot to water bath.  Not only did they look different, the texture of the cheesecakes differed.  The one on the left had no water bath.  The one on the right did.  As you can see, it is flat and even.two cheesecake layersI also found that making the cheesecake layer in a processor yielded a firmer cheesecake than if it is made in a mixer.  However, both ways work. Continue reading →

Traditional Carrot Cake – An American Classic

BY HELEN S. FLETCHER, ON
COPYRIGHT, HELEN S. FLETCHER, 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PHOTOS BY PASTRIES LIKE A PRO UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

Finished wholeCarrot Cake is truly an American Classic cake. With both fruit and nuts, it can have a bevy of add ins including coconut and pineapple. This is the carrot cake that we made at the bakery.

When I opened my bakery I was making more European cakes than American ones. I preferred Italian buttercream to finish my cakes and most of the American cakes used powdered sugar as the base.   It didn’t take me too long to figure out my clients were going to my competition to get the carrot cake as well as a good old American chocolate cake.

So I went into the carrot cake testing phase.  Some were too sweet, some too dry, some didn’t hold up five days in the refrigerator – a must for selling wholesale.  As much as you want to believe all of your desserts are flying out of the restaurant, they’ll usually be around for a few days.  So it is really important they have a shelf life so they won’t dry out. Continue reading →