Carrot Cake Cheesecake |

Let me tell you about what I thought was going to be the most glorious moment of my life: The moment when I had my first sweet after 40 days and nights of no added sugar.

I was in Madison, Indiana and went to my favorite milkshake place (perfect for the first sweet!), Hinkle’s. I ordered a Zero Milkshake (Zero Bars were my favorite when I was younger) and immediately began slurping. It was heavenly…until about halfway through when I realized my body wasn’t used to having that much sugar at once. Immediate food regret. Sugar overload.

So, I thought I’d get back in the swing of this whole sugary sweets thing by making a carrot cake cheesecake!

I combined the best of both worlds here.

First, I made the cheesecake portion of the cake. I softened the cream cheese…

then creamed it with sugar. I then added flour, eggs, and vanilla until a cake batter started to form.

I set that aside and began working on the carrot cake layer. I combined oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in one bowl, and powdered ingredients in the other.

I married the two bowls together and drained some pineapple, reserving the juice.

I then added shredded carrots, the drained crushed pineapple, and walnut pieces to the mixture to create carrot cake!

Then, I layered the cakes, starting by spreading 2-1/2 cups of the carrot cake mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan (above). I then added about 1/4 of the cheesecake to the top in large spoonfuls and spread evenly.

I then spread the rest of the carrot cake on top of that, then finished by spreading the rest of the cheesecake batter on top of that. I put the spring-form pan on top of a pizza pan (to prevent leaking), then threw it in the oven for 60 minutes and out came this gorgeous being:

While the cake was baking though, I made some icing. I creamed even more cream cheese (with butter this time)…

Then added powdered sugar, vanilla, and the reserved pineapple juice to create the perfect frosting.

I let the cheesecake cool, then chilled it in the fridge along with the frosting. After both cheesecake and frosting were chilled, I iced the cake and topped it with shredded carrots.

We ate it after Easter lunch and it was heavenly!

THE RECIPE ACCORDING TO THE HEARTY HERBIVORE
Barely altered from Mrs. Regueiro’s Plate

Ingredients

Cheesecake layer
2-8oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping Tablespoon flour
3 eggs

Carrot Cake Layer
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
8 oz can crushed pineapple with 100% juice, drained and juice reserved
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
reserved pineapple juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Cheesecake– In a standing mixer, cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Slowly add in flour, eggs and vanilla until no clumps of flour or cream cheese remain. Remember to scrape the sides down and combine the excess cream cheese. Set aside

Carrot cake- Combine canola oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. In a separate, medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Marry the two mixtures, adding the powdered ingredients to the egg mixture. Once fully combined, add the pineapple pieces, carrot shreds, and walnuts. Mix until pineapple, walnut, and carrots are mixed throughout.

Assembling– Place greased springform pan on a pizza pan to prevent leaking. Pour 2 1/2 cups of carrot cake mixture into spring form pan and spread evenly. Using a large spoon, top the carrot cake layer with spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture, using about 1/4 of the cheesecake batter. Top with remaining carrot cake batter, then top that with remaining cheesecake batter, spreading edge to edge.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from spring form pan and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Icing– While the cake is baking, combine cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla and pineapple juice in a standing mixer. Beat until smooth, then add more powdered sugar to reach desired consistency (this may or may not be necessary). Cover and refrigerate until cake is cool and ready for icing.

Once cake and icing are both chilled, ice the cake and garnish with shredded carrots. Refrigerate for 4 hours, serve cold.

THE REVIEW

This cake was everything I’ve been looking forward to for the past 40 days and nights! Needless to say, I ate to much of it and will be taking a break from sweets for a while.

My favorite layer was the cheesecake, because it was more cake-y than most cheesecake. The pineapple frosting was very sweet and everything combined created a giant, rich cake, great for Easter Sunday. The walnuts added a nice crunch and the carrot flavor wasn’t overpowering. The flavor was just enough to balance out the richness of the cheesecake.

LENT REFLECTION

Honestly, I feel great after not eating sweets for 40 days. I did go a little crazy this weekend, with the milkshake, the cheesecake, and some Easter chocolates. Needless to say, I’ve been on sugar overload and my body is hating me right now. I think I’ll be reducing my sweet intake permanently.

Whenever I am craving something sweet now-a-days, the first thing that comes to my mind is always fruit, which is what I was going for! I’ve explored an entire new world of naturally sweet treats and am looking forward to making even more!

Hope you had a great Easter!