Ursula turned two yesterday, so we had a little party. We don't do much sugar with her, but I was told by a trustworthy source that she needed "a proper cake." So I set out to develop a cake recipe that was delicious, yet not packed with refined sugar and empty calories.
Recipe: Harvest Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting
One of the beautiful things about having a baby on September 28th was that it felt like a bountiful time to me. Harvest time. What better time to bring into the world a nice ripe, plump baby? And with that spirit, I developed a Harvest Cake: a double layer earth-inspired confection filled with zucchini, carrots and beets. We frosted it with a goat cheese frosting and sweetened it mostly with the vegetables themselves and also some maple syrup. Most of the ingredients were bought the day before at the farmers' market.
Now, it's worth mentioning that the point of the cake wasn't to sneak healthy vegetables into my daughter's belly (she willingly consumes them in their natural state), but rather to capitalize on the texture and sweetness of three of early fall's best crops, and to riff on carrot cake, an old favorite of the birthday girl's mama.
Harvest Cake
Makes one 9” layer cake
For the cake:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup finely grated beets
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2/3 cup safflower, canola or other mild-tasting oil
4 eggs
For the frosting:
15 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup pure maple syrup
For garnish
8-12 walnut halves or 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
flowers
Arrange oven racks to divide oven into thirds. Preheat oven to 400° F Grease two 9in x 2in cake pans, dust with a spoonful of flour and tap out. Line each with a round of parchment paper.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, stir together carrots, zucchini, beets, nuts, and raisins.
In a large mixing bowl, beat maple syrup and oil together until emulsified. Add eggs one at a time, beating until batter is smooth. Add flour mixture in three or four batches, mixing gently until mixture is even. Gently mix in the vegetable mixture. Divide between baking pans.
Place one baking pan in center of each of the racks. Bake 25-35 minutes, until a skewer or paring knife inserted into centers comes out clear and cakes are pulling away from the sides of pans. Cool on a rack about 5 minutes, then gently remove from pans. Cool to room temperature before frosting.
To make frosting:
Using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon and a strong arm, beat goat cheese and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed until well blended. Beat in maple syrup. Chill about 30 minutes, until firm.
To assemble:
Following our instructions on how to frost a layer cake, cut four strips of parchment or wax paper to line cake plate under the cake's edges. Place first cake layer on plate. If it has a peaked top, carefully shave it off using a bread knife or sharp slicing knife. Using an off-set spatula or table knife, spread with frosting, pushing it to edges. Place second layer, top down, squarely on first layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting over entire cake to eliminate crumbs. Frost with remaining frosting. Arrange walnut halves and/or flowers around edge. Can also be garnished by gently pressing handfuls of finely chopped walnuts into frosting.
NOTE: The recipe has been updated to reflect a larger quantity so that layers can be bigger. We have tested it several times and find this recipe works better when feeding a crowd. Of course, for a smaller cake you could halve the recipe and bake it in smaller pans, or in one pan and slice that layer into two layer for a more thin cake.
Comments (16)
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Oooo, this sounds good! Do you think it would work as a 9x13 sheet cake, if I adjust baking time?
view maryam's profile
Aww, your daughter's curly blonde hair is so adorable!
And that goat cheese frosting sounds interesting.
view jamiealyse's profile
I might have to try this. I just made a carrot cake with half whole wheat flour and olive oil instead of "cooking" oil and it was delightful, but still really sugary. Your version sounds healthier.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
maryam,
A quick volume calculation (remember pi times radius squared times height?) tells me you could keep the recipe as written in order to fill a 9x13 pan a little less than 1" deep (1" deep being how far I filled each of my 8" round pans.) You could do the recipe times 1.5 and fill the pan a little more than 1" deep, but you will have to increase the baking time, probably to 40 minutes or so.
If you want two layers, you could cut the resulting cake in half to make two 6.5x9 layers, then stack those. Or just bake two.
view Sara Kate's profile
Oh this looks wonderful and I may just have to do this for my daughters first bday party!
view rosebud's profile
Goat cheese frosting sounds like a great ideaâyum. Would probably be good on a regular carrot cake, too.
Happy Birthday Ursula and congrats to Sara Kate and Maxwell!
view maggie (p/c)'s profile
Thank you, mgood (and all!)
view Sara Kate's profile
Thanks for the recipe, I made it last Sunday and really enjoyed it, nice twist on the traditional carrot cake!
view joyjoy's profile
I made this cake tonight. Except, I couldn't see how there was enough batter for 2, 8 inch pans. So I baked it for 20 minutes in 1, 9 inch pan, and it will be just a one layer cake. That's fine as everyone at the office is watching their waste lines! But I am allergic to dairy, so I used Tofutti cream "cheese" with the goat cheese. Oh yeah baby! Fabulous! Thanks for the recipe!
view keevef's profile
made this and the cake was delicious but the icing never solidified. the maple syrup turned the frosting soupy and even after more than an hour in the fridge it refused to firm up.
view danjo's profile
I made this for my daughter's first birthday. Although I had to omit the nuts (she has 8 teeth, but still...), and was a little on the flat side, it turned out great and got rave reviews.
view Cindy's profile
What a super interesting cake! And OMG I love Truffle Tremor.
Congratulations on your little one's birthday! What an adorable little girl, and I love that she is so open to new foods.
view andrennabird's profile
sounds lovely! Sara Kate, can you make this in cupcakes?
view mrslarkin's profile
Tasty! I made this last night, with a few substitutions.
It came out great. Light and fluffy, but also a bit earthy from the veggies. I'll probably make it again.
My substitutions:
- I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, b/c raisins in baked goods are not my fave
- I only had a little bit of maple syrup & wanted to save it for the frosting. I used 1 C white & 1 C brown sugar, based on a sugar substitution guide I found online (I actually reduced from their recommendation, which suggested 1 C sugar to .5 C maple syrup). It is a too sweet for me (I don't like real sweet cakes); If I did this again, I might even try half that on the sugar.
- In the frosting, I used Fage Greek Yogurt instead of cream cheese, and no powdered sugar. I liked it and I'd do it again.
If I make this again, I might try adding a small amount good quality chipotle chile to the batter; I think a touch of earthy spice would complement the sweet veggies & creamy frosting well.
view joro's profile
I made this for my son's 1st birthday dinner. It was fantastic. I used a little less goat cheese (as my persnickety family usually won't touch it). They never noticed it was in there, but it was such a nice faint flavor. This is now my favorite fall cake!
view tallmisto's profile
My icing never solidified either! I tried my best to frost the two separate cakes, left them in the fridge over night, and stacked them the next day. It still squeezed out of the middle. Otherwise, a very delicious cake.
view rasmugirl's profile