Carrot Halwa Cake

Directions

1. reheat oven to 350 F
2. Grease and line a loaf tin with baking or parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined and then turn speed up to medium and beat for a further 1-2 minutes or until butter turns pale, creamy and almost fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat briefly to combine
5. Add flour, baking powder, salt, coconut cream and desiccated coconut.
6. Mix on a low speed until cake batter is smooth and creamy (but try not to over mix). It will be very thick.
7. Transfer two thirds of the cake batter to your prepared cake pan, setting aside the rest.

8. For the carrot halwa, peel and coarsely grate the carrots. Set a couple of tablespoons aside for use in assembly.

9. Place the carrots, milk and cardamom in a heavy based pan and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until there is almost no liquid left. Simmer until the liquid evaporates. This will take around 35-45 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.

10. Add the butter and mix in. Cook a couple minutes more until the butter is absorbed and there is no liquid left.
11. Add the sugar and mix through.Remove the cardamom pods.
12. When cool, shape the halwa into a tube and rest it in the middle of the cake and top with the remaining batter. Smooth the top. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. If your cake is very brown after 50-60 minutes, loosely cover the top with tin foil.
13. Leave cake to cool for 5 minutes, then gently remove cake from pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
14. For the cream cheese frosting, add cream cheese, sugar and milk into a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
15. Generously frost the top of the cake. Sprinkle over remaining grated carrot.