Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake

Ever have one of those days where you can't decide between carrot cake, cheese cake or chocolate cake?
Well, why choose one when you can have them all?!

I made this "Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake" for the Lancewood Cake-off competition, and I want to thank everyone who went across and voted for it.
 It was one of those competitions, though, where you had to go campaigning for votes, which is so not me. (Clearly no political careers in my future!)
I do think, however, that if it had been up to taste, this cake would certainly have been up there with the winners 😉

Unlike most of my current recipe posts, this one uses cup measures, because I took the "use Lancewood products " message to heart, and not only used the contents of the cream cheese tub, but the tub itself! 

Bonus points! ... or not 🙈

SO, anyhoo - the tub is a substitute cup measure. 

Cheesecake Swirled Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake
Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

Pre-heat the oven to 175'C
Grease a large Bundt cake pan

Ingredients:

Cheesecake swirl -
1 ½ tubs  medium fat plain cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup caster sugar
1 large free range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake -
2 cups cake flour
2 cups caster sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup almond flour
½ cup coconut flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt

1 cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated carrot
zest from 1 orange  (optional)
½ cup boiling water

Method:
Cheesecake Swirl -

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer, and beat until soft. Add the remaining swirl ingredients and beat until smooth. Set aside.


Dark Chocolate Carrot Cake -

Using the tub as a cup measure, measure out and sift together the dry ingredients.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

Crack both eggs into the empty tub, put on the lid and shake - lightly beaten eggs!
Top up the tub containing the eggs with buttermilk.
Pour the eggs and buttermilk mix into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Measure out a tubful of canola oil, and pour that into the well, followed by the vanilla extract and the tubful of grated carrots, and orange zest, if using.
Briefly mix the ingredients together before stirring in the boiling water. Mix well.

Spread half the chocolate carrot cake batter into the bottom of a large, greased Bundt pan.
Pour and spread the cheesecake swirl mixture over the cake batter; followed by the remaining cake batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175'C fot 70-80 min. (This cake will take a while to bake because it is large and moist. Cover the top of the cake loosely with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly). It is done when a wooden cocktail stick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Once done, remove from the oven, and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before turning the cake out from the tin.

Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Yes, it's a lot of ingredients and a bit of effort, but it isn't a difficult cake to make. 

And it certainly is worth it!

I'll be posting tips on a cupcake version soon. 

Happy baking!

xxM