Saturday, June 25, 2011

Dulce de Leche Carrot Cake

My husband loves carrot cake, so for his birthday I made Dulce de Leche Carrot Cake with Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Frosting from Bakespace.com, and it was a hit! I did make changes, both in the cake and in the buttercream, and those changes are reflected in the recipe below.

Dulce de Leche is a wonderful addition to moist carrot cake, lending its creamy, caramelly sweetness and reducing the sugar usually found in carrot cake recipes. Adding it to the traditional cream cheese frosting took it to another level.


Dulce De Leche Carrot Cake
Adapted from the original recipe at Bakespace.com

1 (14 ounce) can Dulce de leche, 1/4 cup removed
1 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups grated carrots, packed firmly
zest of one orange, finely minced

Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Buttercream and Filling

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup Dulce de Leche
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray and place circle of parchment paper in bottom of each.

In large bowl using hand whisk, blend dulce de leche, oil, applesauce, sugar, and eggs. Stir in vanilla extract and lemon juice. In smaller bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients and add carrots and zest, stirring well. Spoon into prepared pans.

Bake until cake springs back when gently pressed, about 25-30 minutes. Cool about 30 minutes before removing from pans to cool on wire rack. Make sure cake is room temperature or chilled before icing.

For buttercream, cream together softened butter, cream cheese, and dulce de leche until smooth and fluffy; add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add cream and vanilla and mix to incorporate. Add remainder of powdered sugar gradually and beat on medium speed until smooth. Fill and frost cake layers as desired. Sprinkle with ground nuts and touch of cinnamon. Unfrosted cake freezes well.

15 comments:

  1. Oh me, oh my! Wow, does that look and sound fantastic! Going into my recipe file, thank you very much!!

    :)
    ButterYum

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  2. Applesauce is listed as an ingredient but is not listed in the directions.

    Also, coconut and nuts are listed in the directions but the amounts are not listed in the ingredients.

    Please help me as I very much want to try this recipe for something very special.

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  3. Thanks, ButterYum!

    Anonymous, thank you so much for pointing out the inconsistencies! I made changes to the original recipe, then I forgot to revise my instructions. I have updated the recipe instructions to reflect my changes; let me know if you find something else.

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  4. Thank you so much Linda for making these changes to help me get the recipe correct. I guess you just didn't use coconut in your recipe. This is absolutely the prettiest cake I have seen on the web in a long time and you should be very proud of it!! Job well done.

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  5. Another beautiful cake. Grumpy would love this one!

    Oh and I'm jealous of your peach tree. :)

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  6. Thanks Shelby! If Grumpy would love it, that makes it perfect. ;)

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  7. I love dulce de leche! Thanks for posting this, I'm definitely going to have to make it!

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  8. Lesley, thanks! I hope you enjoy it.

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  9. Love this! I love carrot cake! =)

    Found your blog on Pinterest, and now Im a new follower.

    We are neighbors, ( I live in Kansas..I grew up on a Dairy Farm here in KS in the late 60's/ early 70's )

    Have a great week!

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  10. This looks delicious! If I replaced both the bread flour and the whole wheat pastry flour with all-purpose flour, do you think it would be okay? I really want to make this. Thank you!

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  11. Hi Melissa, I'm happy that you are following my blog, but I no longer post to it since we moved from Oklahoma - thanks anyway! :) We will be neighbors in spirit, because I still love Oklahoma!

    Anonymous, I think AP flour would be perfectly fine in this recipe - good luck!

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  12. This version sounds delicious, but Iam a coconut and pecan/walnut fan. Im a little curious......why the wheat and bread flour?

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    Replies
    1. Whole wheat pastry flour because I am very fond of it for baking, and bread flour simply because it was what I had on hand (due to the fact that I prefer it for my frequent bread baking). It worked fine, but most people would prefer to use AP flour for a cake.

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  13. I made this cake and my family loved it. Can thus recipe be used for cupcakes?

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    Replies
    1. Tesha, glad you enjoyed it. I this you can use any cake recipe for cupcakes - good luck!

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