CARROT CAKE WITH A TWIST AND A BACKFLIP

Pan-Fried Carrot Cake: Pineapple, Walnuts, and Cream Cheese Ice Cream

Pastry Chef Hillary Blanchard-Rikower of onesixtyblue - Chicago, IL
Adapted by StarChefs.com

Yield: 8 to 12 Servings

INGREDIENTS

Cream Cheese Ice Cream:
900 grams milk
180 grams nonfat milk solids
300 grams granulated sugar
100 grams glucose
1 teaspoon salt
1.35 kilograms cream cheese

Carrot Cake:
8 ounces finely shredded carrots
2 large eggs
3 ounces grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Zest of 1 orange
7 ounces superfine sugar
4½ ounces cake flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Butter

Carrot Cardamom Purée:
32 ounces roughly chopped carrots
16 ounces simple syrup
20 cardamom seeds, crushed

To Assemble and Serve:
Walnuts
Pineapple, diced

METHOD

For the Cream Cheese Ice Cream:
Heat the milk to lukewarm and add the milk solids, sugar, glucose, and salt. Cook the mixture to 65ºC. Blend in the cream cheese using hand blender. Strain the ice cream base and cool it over an ice bath. Spin the ice cream and freeze it.

For the Carrot Cake:
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Combine the carrots, eggs, grapeseed oil, grated ginger, and orange zest in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a separate bowl and gently combine until well mixed. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes. Bake the carrot cakes for 25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Bake them until they're golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake in the freezer and cut into desired shapes. Heat the butter in nonstick frying pan on medium heat and fry all 4 sides until the cake is go lden. Let it cool.

For the Carrot Cardamom Purée:
Cook the carrots in water until they become very tender. Strain and mash the carrots. Heat the simple syrup to a boil with the cardamom and let steep for 1 hour. Strain the syrup. Using a Vitamix, blend the cooked carrots with the cardamom syrup until a smooth purée forms.

To Assemble and Serve:
Spoon some of the Carrot Cardamom Purée onto the plate. Plate the Carrot Cake, and top it with walnuts and pineapple. Scatter some walnut pieces around the plate. Plate a quenelle of the Cream Cheese Ice Cream.

Posted by Chef Bill Brooks, Corporate Chef, U.S. Foodservice, Inc

Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily

reflect those of U.S. Foodservice, Inc