Recently, Producer Leisa ordered a “waffle cake” from a local maker for a special celebration in her home and showed off photos of this special creation. All of us in the studio were intrigued. What in the world is a waffle cake?!
Turns out, it’s exactly what it sounds like; waffles made from cake batter, stacked and iced, to make a cake! A new food trend we could definitely all get behind. Who doesn’t love waffles? Who wouldn’t want a reason to eat them mid-day or in the evening, smothered in icing?!
So we did a little research (i.e. we “Googled it”) and discovered that you can put almost any kind of batter in a waffle iron… think waffle, banana bread, chocolate cake… yep, it all works! Why did it take so long to think this up?
Leisa had ordered a strawberry cake with raspberry icing, it came gorgeously decorated with natural flowers and dusted with powdered sugar. The studio folks decided to take matters into their own hands this week and celebrate fall - any excuse for cake, especially if it’s a waffle cake!
They decided on carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Here’s the result recipe and the directions. It turned out OH SO GOOD and OH SO PRETTY!
Carrot Waffle Cake with Cream Cheese Icing:
Ingredients:
For the Carrot Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or vegetable oil
4 large eggs room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots, lightly packed
For the Cream Cheese Icing:
1 (8-ounce) package brick style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
For the Carrot Cake:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the grated carrots into the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk or rubber spatula until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter.
Coat the two sides of a waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray, and heat. Working one-by-one, pour enough batter into your iron to make a waffle. Cook until done through but not overly browned. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool. Repeat until you have 4-5 waffles to stack.
For the Icing:
Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and using a hand or stand mixer, beat until smooth. Add the butter and mix until well combined. Add the vanilla extract and the powdered sugar a little at a time, until fully combined and creamy.
Assembly:
Choose your serving plate and place the first waffle in the center. Add a generous amount of icing to the top of the waffle and spread to the edges, place another waffle on top, and spread more icing on it. Repeat until you have the desired number of waffles, and height of cake.
Do not ice the top waffle - instead, place a dollop of icing in the center and garnish the stack with flowers (or whatever your creative spirit directs you to do) and sprinkle with powdered sugar!