Olive Oil Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Bacon Caramel Glaze
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
For the Cake
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 cups shredded carrots
  • 8 oz can crushed pineapple
  • 4 eggs
  • 1½ cups olive oil
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
For Caramel Bacon Glaze
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 tsp bacon fat
Garnish:
  • ½ cup walnuts, processed into small pieces
Instructions
For the Cake
  1. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Take two 8x2" round cake pans and grease. Cover the bottom of each cake pan with parchment paper, grease a little more and then dust flour into each pan. This makes it fully nonstick and allows the cakes to be removed with much more ease without ruining the shape.
  2. In a large bowl add your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt. Mix together & set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl add your eggs, olive oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk together until well blended. Next add your crushed pineapples and mix.
  4. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together.
  5. Next fold in your shredded carrots until carrots are all mixed in.
  6. Evenly distribute cake batter into both cake pans and level. Place in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until knife inserted in cake comes out clean.
  7. Let the cake cool in pan on wire rack, and then once done cooling (about 1-2 hours) run a knife along the edge, turn over, and remove cake.
  8. Next very carefully, using a serrated knife (easiest) slice the top part off of each cake to level cake completely (basically you are cutting off "the muffin top".)
  9. Next add your icing to top of one cut side of cake. Turn other cake over onto frosted cake (so topside down) and then ice cake very lightly to create more of a "naked feel". You may add more icing if you would like. Cream cheese frosting recipe to follow.
  10. Next pour over your caramel bacon glaze, starting at the edges to create a "drippy" look. And then adding the rest of the glaze to the top center of cake and smoothing over. Recipe to follow.
  11. Sprinkle with processed walnuts and serve.
For the Frosting:
  1. In a medium sized bowl, beat your cream cheese until it becomes fluffy.
  2. Next in another bowl, whip your heavy cream until it creates a nice whipped cream.
  3. Add your cream cheese to your whipped cream, as well as your vanilla & powdered sugar and beat until fully mixed together, creating a light and fluffy texture.
  4. Frost cake.
For the Caramel Bacon Glaze
  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat add your brown sugar, butter, heavy cream & bacon fat. Whisking constantly until sugar has dissolved. Lower heat to medium and continue to whisk often so sugar doesn't burn, for about 5 minutes.
  2. Remove from heat, set aside at room temperature. Glaze will begin to thicken and then once cake is set pour on top.
Notes
This cake may be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen up to 3 months. Remove 24-36 hours before eating and let cake thaw in fridge. Remove two hours from fridge before serving.
Recipe by My Lavender Blues at https://mylavenderblues.com/olive-oil-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-bacon-caramel-glaze/