Carrot Cheesecake layered cake

Carrot Cheesecake layered cake

I am a big carrot cake fan. I also love cheesecake. So why not marry the two? Are you with me? Oh yeah. Married two of my favorite desserts for Easter and it was oh.so.good! Carrot Cheesecake layered cake is a new favorite here!

I would suggest making this when you have people to share it with, because it is alot of cake. Or not. I am wishing I had more leftovers right now, so maybe it is better not to share 😉

I froze the layers before stacking it. I actually made the cakes on the Tuesday before Easter, and then just assembled it on Easter Sunday. So this can be made ahead and assembled when ready. It is actually REALLY good with the Cheesecake later still a little frozen – it is like a cheesecake ice cream layer then – YUM!

When I made the cheesecake, I thought it looked really thin. However, once stacked, it looked perfect with the Carrot cakes. So if it looks thin when you get it out of the oven, don’t worry. It is fine!

I used my favorite Carrot Cake Recipe and my Cream cheese Frosting recipe to make this delectable treat… Arg… Just writing about it makes me want to run downstairs and make another one…

Use my Baking flat cakes method to get your carrot cake layers even and flat!
 
Ingredients:

Carrot Cake Layer

  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup applesauce (if you don’t like applesauce in recipes, use another 1/2 cup oil instead!)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 cups shredded carrots (5 medium)

 
Cheesecake

  • 2 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream

 
Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 8oz cream cheese – I used 1/3 less fat
  • 1/4 cup Butter – softened
  • 2-3 tsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups powdered sugar

 
Directions
 
Carrot Cake:

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour (I use Pam for baking) 2 round pans. Try to use the same size round pans as your springform pan that you’ll be using for cheesecake. Beat Sugar, oil, applesauce, and eggs together until well blended. Add in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla and salt. Mix until just combined. Stir in Carrots. Pour into pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans and then cool completely, removed from the pans, on cooling racks. To get even layers, use my method of getting flat cakes!

 

Cheesecake:

 

Heat oven to 325. In a large roasting pan, add 1 inch of water to the pan. Place in the lower 2/3 of the oven and allow to preheat. Wrap the outside bottom of your springform pan in a double layer of foil. Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until creamy – 2-3 minutes. Add in the salt and eggs and beat well. Add in the sour cream and heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy – 2 minutes or so. Pour into your springform pan. Place the springform pan in the center of the water-filled roasting pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another 30 minutes. Remove the cheesecake and allow to cool.

 

Frosting:

 

Whip the cream cheese and butter together, until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Whip and add milk as needed to get desired consistency. Whip until light, creamy, and fluffy!

 

Assembly:

 

It is super easy to assemble when frozen. Simply wrap the cakes in plastic wrap when cooled and freeze for a week or two before assembly. You can do it unfrozen as well, if you don’t have the time – or space – to freeze the cakes, but I always like using frozen cakes, when making a stacked cake – just easier to deal with! Then simply stack the cakes, placing only a LITTLE frosting between the layers. Simply use the frosting to “glue” the layers together, but you don’t need much! Then use the rest of the frosting for the outside of the cake. Enjoy!

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Carrot Cheesecake layered cake