Chai Spiced Carrot Loaf with Goat Cheese frosting

 Inspired

Cake

• 2 eggs

• 150 g (3/4 cup) brown sugar

• 50 g (1/4 cup) white sugar

• 110 g (1/2 cup) vegetable oil

• 115 g (1/2 cup) plain whole milk yogurt

• 200 g (2 cups) grated carrots (about 4 medium carrots)

• 225 g (1 3/4 cups) flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp cloves

• 1/4 tsp allspice

• Pinch of black pepper

• 1/4 tsp salt

• Optional (but highly recommended): the zest of 1/2 an orange

Icing

• 75 g (~1/3 cup) goat cheese

• 30 g (a little over 2 tbsp) butter

• 200 g (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar

• Pinch of salt

Assembly

• Crushed pistachios (for topping)

• Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or line a 9x5 loaf tin or 16 cupcake tins.

  2. Whisk together the eggs and sugars vigorously, about 2-3 minutes, until smooth and fluffy.

  3. Whisk in the oil and yogurt until homogenous and glossy, then fold in the grated carrots.

  4. In a separate bowl, mix together all remaining cake ingredients.

  5. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients, then fold together gently with a spatula or large wooden spoon just until there are no streaks of flour.

  6. Pour the batter into the loaf tin or cupcake tins (for cupcakes, the batter should come up about 3/4 of the way to the top).

  7. Bake for 45-55 minutes for the loaf (or 17-20 minutes for the cupcakes). Check on the loaf after 40 minutes (or the cupcakes after 15 minutes), but no earlier, otherwise you risk the middle collapsing in on itself. Test for doneness with a toothpick or the tines of a fork; if they come out clean, then it's done.

  8. Let cool while you make the icing.

  9. Beat together the goat cheese and butter until light and fluffy, then slowly mix in the icing sugar, little by little, until it's thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon without sliding off. You can add less icing sugar if you want more of a glaze/runny icing, but if you want to be able to pipe it then the full amount works best.

  10. Smooth or pipe the icing over the top of the cooled cake and cover with crushed pistachios.