"Carrot et cetera" Cake

Last night, Jack made an upside down carrot cake which was so divine I had to share it with you. The cake itself was loaded with extra ingredients like Thai coconut milk, a small amount of cornmeal, which gave it a tactile but subtile crunchiness, and oats, which gave it texture and body. All, of course, added to the flavor of the cake which already contained lots of carrots and pineapple, including some pineapple juice.

What really made this dessert so over the top, though, was the upside down bottom/top of the cake. Using a springform pan lined with parchment paper, Jack sprinkled the bottom of the pan with raw sugar, and then an abundance of blueberries, pineapple chunks and grated carrots. The batter went in on top of that.

After it was baked and unmolded, Jack spooned over it a reduction of pineapple juice and Frangelico hazelnut liqueur. Reduced to a sticky syrup, the sauce was good enough to eat on its own. (It would also be fabulous over vanilla or hazelnut ice cream. Hmm...maybe I'll make some hazelnut ice cream to accompany what's left of the cake tonight!)

Finally, powdered sugar was added to create a snowy top. This also served to create an element of surprise when the cake was cut into.

Our trusty helper, Tino, enjoyed licking out the batter bowl as much as we enjoyed the finished cake!

Finger snout-lickin' good!