Caramelised Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese-White Chocolate Ganache

Lately I am caramelising everything. Almost. I have to admit, caramel and other sugar works had never interests me this much. Firstly because it is just plainly sweet (what can you expect from sugar?), secondly because it is not easy. I had the habit of burning my caramel too much that according to my chemistry knowledge, it has turned into pure carbon. Unfortunately from either chemistry or baking perspective, it is not something good.

The caramelising habit started a couple weeks ago when I tried making caramelised banana ganache. Boy, it was good. The caramel is the key, surprisingly. The aroma of burnt sugar was just heavenly. That was when I decided to start a new relationship... with sugar. And today I'm pairing it with carrots.

Caramelised Carrot Cake
100 gr carrots, finely shredded
15 gr caster sugar
1 tsp water
5 gr butter
2 eggs, separated
60 gr caster sugar
100 gr plain flour
10 gr cornflour
1/4 lemon, zest of

1. Caramelise carrots: in a medium pan over medium-high heat, cook 15 gr sugar and water until it turns into golden caramel. Turn heat down to medium, add butter and let it melt. Add shredded carrots and cook until soft and the liquids are reduced. Cool.
2. Preheat oven to 180C and prepare a baking pan.
3. Whisk egg yolks with 60 gr sugar until thick and pale. Fold in plain flour, cornflour, lemon zest, and cooled caramelised carrots.
4. Whisk egg whites until firm peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese-White Chocolate Ganache
100 gr cream cheese, softened
50 gr white chocolate, chopped

1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Melt white chocolate and add to cream cheese. Mix until combined.

Note: for the caramelised carrots on top, slice carrots thinly using vegetable peeler then caramelise in the same way as you caramelise shredded carrots before.