DIY Spiced Carrot Cake Squares!!

Hey people! How's it going?

Been a long time since we have spoken, amiright? Well school has been pretty hectic you see. But the holidays are here and I have some time to work on a couple of projects that I can share with you (another Harry potter themed one coming up! Keep an eye out for it!)! So to celebrate my freedom, I made some spiced carrot cake cubes topped with fondant. I learnt this delicious microwave cake recipe from my mum and I can't wait to share it with all of you. Also with the Christmas festivities around the corner, it couldn't have been a better time to bake something new!

So here we go!

Let's get what we need first

Materials:

• All flour (Maida): 1/2 Cup
• Brown sugar: 1/2 Cup
• Vegetable oil: 1/2 Cup
• Eggs: 2
• Baking powder: 1/2 tsp
• Cinnamon powder: ~1 tsp
• Garam Masala or All spice: ~1 tsp
• Carrots: 2 medium size grated
• Fondant: White, orange (or red and yellow) and green

Also:

• bowls for mixing
• cake tin (rectangular one if you want to cut it into cubes. Otherwise, any shape is fine)
• whisk/ hand blender (to...well... mix)
• a blunt knife (for removing the cake) and a sharp knife (for cutting)
• a skewer (to check if the cake is still soft while baking)
• a spoon
• clingfilm (for the base to roll the fondant)
• Rolling pin (for the fondant as well)

The fondant is of course optional. I used it because I just wanted the cakes to look pretty. And I would also like to mention here that they were a present from a very close friend and I felt using them would make my Christmas merrier and so they ended up on my cake :D.

Okay so this is my favourite step. I love the whipping and mixing (and the tasting :P). You may use a hand blender if you wish, but I enjoy it more by hand. You will need two separate places to mix: One for the wet ingredients (I used a bowl for this) and one for the dry powders and all (I used the cake tin itself for this :P). Let's get started!!

Steps:

In the bowl:

1. Add half a cup of brown sugar. As brown sugar is slightly not as sweet as white sugar, you may want to add a heaped cup or a little more than half (as per your taste). If you don't have brown sugar at hand, go right ahead with normal powdered sugar. The only difference will be that the cake will be slightly sweeter and the colour will be a bit darker.
2. Add the two eggs and beat them in until its nice and smooth. Make sure there are no lumps.
3. Pour in the half cup of vegetable oil and mix it in as well. make it frothy.
4. Keep this aside for a bit.

In the cake tin/ or the second bowl:

1. Add the flour and the baking powder. Mix them together with a spoon.
2. Add all the spice and mix them in as well evenly.

Back to the bowl:

1. Add the contents of the second bowl to that of the first and mix mix mix! Do this with the out-most care as your cake depends on this mainly. The end should yield a nice smooth batter of a thick but flowing consistency.
2. Add your grated carrots and mix them in as well evenly.
3. This is the place where you taste and you can add more spice and sugar if you feel. (Caution: Don't eat up the entire batter!)

Let's head to the baking!

If you have reached this step, that means you haven't eaten up the entire batter which is great and so congratulations!

Steps:

1. While you preheat your microwave at 180 degrees, grease your cake tin.
2. We didn't have any butter paper but if you do, then go ahead and use them. Otherwise, brush the tin with some vegetable oil on all the sides and the base.
3. Dust it with some flour on all the five sides as well like in the third photo.
4. Pour in the batter into the coated tin. Tap it to the table top a few times to release the bubbles inside and so as to ensure that the cake rises up evenly.
5. Put the cake tin into the microwave to bake. I baked it in the convection mode (180 degrees) for about 20-25 minutes.
6. At the end of 20 minutes, poke the centre of the cake with a skewer. If it comes out clean and dry, your cake is ready. If not, bake it along for a few more minutes and repeat this step until nothing sticks.
7. Once it is ready, let it cool down completely before scrapping the slides gently with a blunt knife and popping the cake out of its tin.

I loved the aroma of the spice at this stage... do you guys too?

Well, now for the decorating!

This is merely my second time using fondant and while I still am learning a lot about it, i enjoyed every bit of this step. My first attempt was decorating my birthday cake. If you want to check that out, head over to my new Instagram account and do tell me what you think about the Harry Potter theme! I would really appreciate tips on using fondant!

But here is how I did it:

1. Cut the cake into neat squares.
2. Roll out a bit clingfilm on your table top to have a nice working surface for the fondant.
3. Roll out a sheet of white fondant (not too thick as it would taste too fondant-y and not too thin as it may tear)
4. Place the sheet over a square and trim the edges off with a sharp knife. Rub the edges and sides to make it smooth.
5. Do this for all the cakes.

To make it look a little interesting I decided to add some tiny fondant carrots. Let me show you how I made them!

Final step!

This stage wouldn't take too long and your cakes are almost ready!!

Steps:

1. As I didn't have orange fondant, I kneaded some red and yellow together. If you are doing this too, make sure your yellow is more than the red for a proper orange shade. Divide it into pieces according to the number of squares u need to decorate. I did 8 squares.
2. Roll the ball out into a long tear shape. Press it against a surface to flatten one of it's sides so that it will stay in place on the cake. Repeat for all!
3. Now divide the green into the same number of pieces. Cut each green piece into three smaller pieces.
4. Roll the three into thin tear drops again and place then in like a fork shape as in the picture. Add these to the heads of the carrots.
5. Now with the blunt knife make small cuts to give the carrots some kind of a texture.

All done! Congratulations!

Although I have always had an immense fascination for baking, I have only recently been allowed to bake post my 17th birthday. (I have a knack for blowing up things and my mum doesn't want her kitchen to end up like that XD. But now I'm older so it is safe.... I think..?).

so I enjoyed the entire process thoroughly and it would mean the world to me if you would show some love and encouragement. Do let me know what you think about this 'ible, how your cakes turned out, leave some tips and advice.... and do vote for this in the baking contest. <3

I'll hopefully put up another 'ible this week and will see you all soon.

Until then, a very merry Christmas

Love,

Ahona