Taking up the gauntlet!

In the Middle Ages, if a knight wanted to challenge another to a duel, he would throw down his gauntlet (a glove made of chainmail) and, if the other knight accepted his challenge, he would take up the gauntlet. By this point you are probably thinking, oh boy, she has really lost it. Either she is about to tell us how to spit roast a suckling pig and create a medieval banquet, or she has just gone completely doo-lally. Fortunately, neither is the case (yet).

The gauntlet in question here is a carrot cake gauntlet. When I blogged in April about 'The Best Carrot Cake ever', a good friend of mine, let's call her Eleanor, commented that my mum's recipe couldn't possibly be the best, because she had a better one. Understandably, spurred on by the desire to defend my mother's culinary honor, I have taken up the gauntlet, by, this week, trying out the recipe Eleanor recommended. Imagine me and the kitchen aid (faces daubed with warpaint), charging into battle to the cry of 'They can take our carrots, but they'll never take my mother's culinary reputation!"

Eleanor's recipe comes from a book by the owners of a famous chain of bakeries in London (and one, inexplicably enough, in Dubai), called the Hummingbird Bakery, who brought out a cookbook with many of their favorite recipes, including this one for carrot cake. You can find out more about the book and bakeries here.

The cake was indeed a thing of beauty, as you can hopefully tell from the photo below, even if that is courtesy of me and my iPhone rather than a large SLR and a professional food stylist:

It has three layers of light, moist cake, much lighter than your average carrot cake, which, even to my carrot-cake-loving taste, can be a touch leaden. Moreover, each layer is spread with a copious quantity of cream cheese frosting, which then covers the entire confection. Even a small slice feels pretty decadent, given the tall cake and the frosting. Overall, I found it to be a very different cake to the one my mum makes. If I were having a posh party, and wanted to wow the audience with a beautiful creation, then I would probably go for the Hummingbird recipe again. It is indeed delicious, and elegant. However, if I were having mid-afternoon coffee with friends, then I would want the moist, light carrot cake my mum likes. It wouldn't spoil my dinner, and I wouldn't feel like I had sinned and have to promise myself a calorie-purge the following day.

Yes, I am declaring a tie - they are both excellent, and it isn't really a fair contest, since they are so different in texture, taste and the setting for which they would fit the bill. Imagine if you will, that the two 'knights' duel for a while, then stop when they realize they have a case of mistaken identity: one of them isn't actually a knight, he's a master blacksmith, and in any case, they decide that they really are quite evenly matched, put aside their differences and go down the pub for a few beers instead.

Now, I don't know if Eleanor would agree with me. She and I share not only a great friendship, but also a tendency for stubbornness, so she might just dig her heels in and continue to wield her culinary mace. I can only suggest that she put down the mace for a moment, pick up a whisk, and try my mum's cake some time. And Eleanor, when you do, let me know!

Hummingbird Carrot Cake

300g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
300 ml sunflower (or canola) oil
300g plain (or AP) flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus more for decorating
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
300g carrots, grated/shredded
100g chopped walnuts, plus extra for decorating

Frosting:
900g icing/powdered sugar
150g unsalted butter, at room temp
375g cream cheese, cold

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C, gas mark 3).
2. Spray three 8" diameter tins with oil spray and line bottoms with parchment paper.
3. Put sugar, eggs and oil in bowl of a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use handheld electric whisk), and beat until ingredients are well incorporated. Mixture may look slightly split, but that is OK. Slowly add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well mixed.
4. Stir in grated carrots and chopped walnuts by hand until evenly dispersed.
5. Pour mixture into prepared tins and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and top of sponges springs back if lightly touched. Leave cakes to cool slightly in their tins and then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Make frosting: in large bowl, use electric mixer to beat together butter and sugar until well mixed. Use slow speed or you'll end up in a dust cloud! Add cream cheese in one go and beat until completely incorporated. Turn mixer up to medium/high speed and beat until frosting is light and fluffy (at least 5 minutes). Do not over beat though, as it can quickly become runny.
7. Place one layer of cake on a serving plate and spread top with 1/4 of the frosting. Top with another layer and spread that with another 1/4 of the frosting. Finish with the final sponge layer and then cover the top and sides of assembled cake with remaining frosting. There will be frosting left over, but I'm sure you'll find a use for that!
8. Sprinkle top of cake with additional walnuts and dust with ground cinnamon.

Deeeeelish!