What to expect for this coming week. I'll de demonstrating how to made your own home made fresh Pasta Dough from Scratch. I will be making a video for this to clearly demonstrate how it should be done and make it easier for you to do at home. We will also be uploading a amazing Chocolate Fondant (Chocolate Lava cake) recipe, and if I have the time I will also be making a video for this recipe. Last but not least there will also be the Double Chocolate Mousse recipe that I mentioned in my Japonaise recipe I posted a few days ago onhttp://www.chefdewet.co.za/blog/giving-the-french-japonaise-meringue-a-japanese-flare.
This might not be the only things you can expect to be posted this upcoming week as I might feel like doing some other new and interesting cutting and garnish techniques.
So keep posted and make sure to go and subscribe to my News letter to ensure you don't miss anything.

There are three different cakes I hold near and dear to my heart and Carrot Cake is one of them. And not to brag but I do think this is one of the best recipes for carrot cake out there. What makes it a little bit more decadent you ask? Well it's the banana I use in the recipe. I also like the texture this cake has, it being riddled with big chunks of pecan nuts. Then comes the sweet tangy cream cheese frosting, not too much and not too little but just the right amount. I finish it off with some fresh fruits and a sprinkle of pecan nuts. I feel it's truly everything you could want in a cake, but then again that's just me!

So as the title of this blog mentions, we have our very first featured baker on Chef Dewet Visser. He is no ordinary baker, neither is he a professional baker, but instead he is my best friend, Craig Woolfson. He baked a cake intending to make his gran's 80th birthday a memorable one. He asked me for some assistance with what cake to bake and we finally decided that he should do the Carrot Cake that I had in my Booklet. He went out and got all the ingredients he needed, followed my step by step instructions, and recorded the process. So today I decided to share this with my fellow bakers and followers of my website. This was his first time baking a Carrot cake of this size so keep that in mind when you see the final product. With that being said, anyone who would like to feature on my website simply email me at chef@chefdewet.co.za and you could have the spotlight on Chef Dewet Visser for the day. 

Carrot Cake
Ingredients

• 187.5 ml Oil
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 187.5 ml Castor Sugar
  
• 100 ml Pecan Nuts (You can use any nut you prefer really, I still want to try it out with Pistachios) 
  
• 375 ml Plain Flour
  
• 5 ml Vanilla Extract
  
• 5 ml Baking Powder
  
• 5 ml Bicarbonate of Soda 
  
• 2 ml Salt
  
• 2 ml Mixed Spices
  
• 5 ml Cinnamon
  
• 2 ml Nutmeg
  
• 125 ml Banana
  
• 250 ml Fine Grated Carrots
  

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160oC/320oF.
2. Place the oil, eggs, and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and mix well until you have a light, thick consistency.
3. Add in all your dry ingredients (Including the nuts) which you need to sift at least once.
4. Mix until everything is well incorporated.
5. Next add in your carrots and bananas, giving it another good mix.
5. Grease your cake pan, adding silicon paper to the bottom, and finally add your mixture. Place into your preheated oven of 160oC/320oF for 30-35 minutes. It should have a nice golden top once complete.
6. Once out of the oven, allow to cool and finally place into the fridge while you prepare your frosting.

White Chocolate & Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 230 g Sugar
  
• 90 g Water
  
• 5 ml Lemon Juice
  
• 150 g Egg Whites
  
• 120 g Castor Sugar
  
• 250 g Soft Butter
  
• 250 g Cream Cheese (Unsalted) 
  
• 500 g White Chocolate
  
• Zest of 1 Orange
  

Method 

1. Place the larger amount of sugar, water and lemon juice into a pot and bring to the boil. Continue to boil until the syrup is at 114 - 116oC/237.5 - 240.8oF (This is known as soft ball stage).
2. Place your white chocolate over a bain-marie to melt. The water should not be boiling too rapidly but instead just simmering to create steam (If its too hot the chocolate can burn and you wont be able to use it! Also don't move it around too much just stir every now and then).
3. While waiting for your stock syrup to reach soft ball stage whip up your egg whites. When you reach medium peak stage start to add in the smaller amount of sugar (It must be castor sugar), adding it 1 teaspoon at a time while whisking until you reach stiff peak stage.
4. Once syrup is at soft ball stage start to pour at a slow steady rate into your mixing bowl with the meringues, whisking the entire time. The end result should be a glossy meringue with stiff peaks (This is known as a boiled meringue or Italian Meringue).
5. Remove the meringue from the mixing bowl and place soft butter and the zest into a bowl and mix until pale in colour.
6. Next add your cream cheese and follow by pouring your melted chocolate into the bowl with the butter. Whisk well (Your chocolate should not be straight off the bain-marie, it should rest for at least 1 minute before being added).
7. Now adding 1/3 at a time, fold the mixture into your Italian Meringue to create the final product.
8. Allow to rest in the fridge for 5 minutes and then you're ready to frost your cake!


Edited by
Monique Boaventura

Good evening every one, I have been getting some request to start making video blogs. So I finally got the courage to put one together. It's a very basic video with a bit of slicing and dicing, as well as some tips and tricks which you can use in your kitchen at home. I will be making more, and with time the quality and interaction will improve. So keep and eye out for more, I'm going to try and at least make one every week. Hope you enjoy it, and make sure to share with friends and family. 
I have made it a little bit fun with the intro as well as the background music.