Red Currant Bakery

Prep the veg & nuts
0 Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
2 Add the pecans (or whichever nuts you choose) into a large flat pan. Place over medium low heat and toast, stirring frequently just until fragrant. They don't need to be visibly toasted just start to smell nutty.
3 Once toasted immediately remove from the heat and chop so that the pieces are no bigger than 1/4".
4 With a box grater or food processor grate the carrots - I snap off the small tip because otherwise it has a tendency to break off when grating and the carrot can slip.
5 Place the grated carrot into a large mixing bowl, then grate the apple in the same way. There's no need to peel the apple just make sure not to grate the core or the stem.
6 Gently squeeze the grated apple to remove any excess liquid. Toss the grated apple in with the carrots and roughly mix.
Cake Batter
8 In a separate large bowl, add in the eggs, both sugars, orange zest, salt, vanilla, and cardamom. Whip on high for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
9 Add in the applesauce and oil and mix again.
30 In a separate bowl whisk together both flours, baking soda and baking powder.
10 Pour the flour mixture over the grated apple and carrots. Pour in the toasted pecans and dried cranberries (or whichever dried fruit you choose to add).
11 Fold the grated produce in with the flour mixture and nuts until completely coated.
12 Dump the produce and flour mixture into the bowl with the whipped eggs and sugar and fold to combine. Be careful to fold and not to stir as you will make the cake tough.
13 If not using a non-stick USA pan, be sure to line your pan with butter and parchment or a baking spray that includes flour.
14 Pour the cake batter into a 9" springform pan with tall sides or two separate 9" metal cake pans.
15 Sprinkle the top of the cake (or one of the cakes) with 50 grams of white granulated sugar.
16 Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
17 Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.
18 After 30 minutes, remove the cake(s) from the pan(s) and leave to cool completely before filling or frosting.
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream
20 In a medium mixing bowl add in the cream cheese, brown sugar, salt, vanilla bean paste and ground cardamom seed if using. Or you can use orange zest if you prefer!
21 Use the balloon whisk attachment on medium speed or the beaters on a hand mixer to beat until smooth and the brown sugar has dissolved into the cream cheese.
22 Turn off the mixer and pour in the cold heavy cream. Whip on medium high speed until almost stiff. If the mixture becomes too stiff, add more heavy cream and whip on medium speed until just combined.
Assemble the Cake
24 Slice the cooled cake in half if it was baked in one pan or just level off the top of the non sugar topped layer with a serrated knife.
25 Place the bottom layer of cake with the trimmed side up on a piece of brown parchment paper or a cake stand you plan to serve it from.
26 Scoop the cream cheese whipped cream onto the bottom layer of cake. Use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to level out the whipped cream.
27 Place the second layer of cake with onto the cream cheese whipped cream layer and press down gently.
28 Leave the cake to sit, assembled for at least an hour before cutting and serving or the filling will all squeeze out.
29 Store leftovers with a bowl upside down or a cake dome over the top in the fridge.