Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

It was Uncle Bruce's Birthday and he has always wanted a kiddy cake.  He has mentioned it at every kiddy birthday party that he attended.  I know Uncle Bruce loves cars and since i have a mould of a car - it is one of those tear-away silicone mould which made a pretty good cake.  I can't make the cake from a box, you can fool the kids but not the adults, so, i made a carrot cake with all the works and it will not be complete without cream cheese frosting.  Uncle Bruce was delighted with his car but i told him that he can't drive it in the night though cos i forgot to fix in the lights, front and back of his car.  Happy Birthday again, i am not going to tell how old you are!!!!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup. sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cupvegetable oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup dessicated coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Method:

Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside.

Combine sugars, buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract in a large bowl; stir until all ingredients are well blended.

Add flour mixture, carrots, pineapple, walnuts, coconut and raisins, stirring just until well blended. Do not overmix.

Grease 3 (8 inch) round cake pans(one car silicone mould and 2 tiny loaf pans). Line bottoms with waxed paper; grease and flour waxed paper.

Pour batter into cake pans.

Bake at 350°F. for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pans 10 minutes; loosen cake layers from edges of pans with a sharp knife and invert onto wire racks. Peel off waxed paper and cool completely.

Spread Cream Cheese Frosting all over the cake.  Cover and refrigerate overnight before cutting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 egg whites from 2  large eggs
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
8 ozs cream cheese


Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer.

Place the corn syrup, sugar and water in a medium saucepan, with a cast-iron skillet at the bottom. Stir until combined and the sugar is dissolved. Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, with the pan covered to wash any sugar crystals down from the sides. Uncover and cook to the soft ball stage, 240 f.

Meanwhile, begin to beat the egg whites on slow speed. When they are foamy, add the cream of tartar, Gradually increase the speed to medium and continue beating until soft peaks form.

As soon as the sugar syrup reaches the soft ball stage, remove it from the heat. Turn off the mixer. Very carefully pour about 1/4 of the hot syrup down the inside of the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on high speed, and beat well. Add the syrup in two more additions, stopping the mixer each time, working as quickly as possible. If the sugar is slightly overcooked and hardens a bit, return it to the heat for a moment to remelt it. Do not pour the sugar syrup into the bowl while the mixer is on; you may splash yourself with hot syrup or the syrup will end up all on the sides of the bowl.

Continue to beat the meringue until it cools to room temperature. This takes about 20 minutes of continuous beating. If you need to hurry it along, place the bowl of your mixer in a ice bath for a few moments while mixing by hand, then return it to the machine. If you attempt to add the butter before the meringue is cool, the cream cheese will melt and the frosting will collapse.

When the meringue is cool, beat in the cream cheese a bit at a time. If the frosting starts to separate, continue beating without adding any more cream cheese until the frosting looks fluffy again.  Beat in vanilla and almond extract, if using.

Serves