Make our Carrot Cake with a Twist

An important part of safari is the cuisine! After being out on a game drive, the fresh air and excitement will get your stomach rumbling and there is nothing better than sitting down to a delicious meal prepared by our fantastic chefs. Lalibela aims to make every meal an experience itself, introducing you to a number of African -inspired dishes full of flavour! But, we don’t believe that you can only enjoy safari cuisine on safari! With COVID-19 resulting in a lockdown, we have realised the importance of giving our guests a safari experience at home (you might have seen our daily Stay At Home Safaris, check them out here). One of the easiest ways to do this, is to share some of our favourite dishes with you. Luckily, head chef, Carl Human, was happy to get on board and has given us a number of recipes for you to prepare at home. We thought, we would kick things off with a recipe that the whole family can spend the day baking together. It’s our carrot cake with a twist! Get ready to indulge in a delicious slice of cake and reminisce of your Lalibela safari experience.

Ingredients

For the carrot cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the Cheesecake

• 240g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream

For the Frosting

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 120g softened cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Chopped pecans or walnuts, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 9″ springform pan.

Make carrot cake mixture:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and
   baking soda. Stir in oil, then add eggs and mix until combined. Add carrots,
   raisins and nuts and mix until combined.

Make cheesecake mixture:

1. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a
   stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar until
   smooth.
2. Stir in salt and flour. Mix in vanilla and eggs, beating 1 minute between each
   addition, then add sour cream.

Assemble cheesecake:

1. Pour 2/3 carrot cake mixture into prepared pan and smooth top
   with spatula.
2. Top with spoonful’s of 1/3 cheesecake mixture, then pour over
   remaining carrot cake mixture.
3. Top with remaining cheesecake mixture and smooth
   top with a spatula.
4. Bake until center is only slightly jiggly, 1 hour. Let cool completely,
   then transfer to the fridge to cool – 4 hours.
5. Run a knife around inside of springform
   pan and unmold from pan.
6. When ready to serve, make frosting: Beat sugar, butter,
   cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
7. Frost cheesecake, then garnish with pecans or
   walnuts and let chill, 10 minutes, before serving

In search of more reading? Here’s some recipes to celebrate Heritage Day!