Carrot Cake Trifle

INGREDIENTS

8 oz Compressed Pineapple

2 oz Praline Cookie Shards

32 rounds Carrot Cake

5.5 oz German Cream Cheese Buttercream

COMPRESSED PINEAPPLE

8 oz Pineapple

1 each Vanilla Bean

1 cup Pineapple Juice

PRALINE COOKIE SHARDS

1 Tbsp Butter, Unsalted

1.5 Tbsp Evaporated Cane Sugar

2.5 tsp Honey

2.5 tsp Pecans, Chopped

2 tsp All Purpose Flour

CARROT CAKE

1.5 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1.5 tsp Cinnamon

9 Tbsp Evaporated Cane Sugar

1 each Egg, Whole

2 oz Egg Whites

1.75 oz Prunes, Pureed

1 cup Carrots, Finely Grated

2 Tbsp Canola Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 oz Pineapple, Diced

GERMAN CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM

7-3/4 tsp Cane Sugar

1-1/2 tsp Cornstarch

2-1/2 tsp Egg, Whole

1-1/4 tsp Egg Yolk

3/4 tsp Vanilla Paste

11-1/4 tsp 1% Milk

9-1/2 tsp Butter, Unsalted, Room Temperature

4 Tbsp Cream Cheese, Low-Fat, Room Temperature

INSTRUCTIONS

To Make Compressed Pineapple:

1. Dice pineapple and place in a vacuum sealed bag with scraped vanilla bean and pineapple juice. Vacuum seal and let sit overnight in the fridge.

2. Next day, open the bag, remove pineapple and set aside.

3. Add remaining juice to a pot, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Reduce until sauce has thickened. Cool & reserve for plating dessert.

To Make Praline Cookie Shards:

1. Place butter, evaporated cane sugar and honey in a pot over medium-low heat. Cook until evaporate cane sugar is melted.

2. Remove from heat, add chopped nuts and flour and mix well. Chill overnight.

3. Next day, scoop 1 tsp batter into balls and place on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

4. Bake in a 325⁰ F oven for 8 minutes. Let cool.

5. Break up into small shard pieces.

To Make Carrot Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350⁰ F.

2. Line a 12x8 Inch sheet pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with oil.

3. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and evaporated cane sugar in one bowl.

4. In another bowl, mix together eggs, prune puree, grated carrots, canola oil, vanilla and diced pineapple.

5. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until incorporated.

6. Pour cake batter onto prepared sheet pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake is done (springs back when touched).

7. Let cool.

To Make German Cream Cheese Buttercream:

1. Add half of the cane sugar to a bowl, along with the cornstarch and eggs. Mix to combine.

2. Add the rest of the cane sugar to a bowl over a double boiler and add vanilla paste.

3. Slowly add the hot milk (tempering) to the egg mixture, whisking the entire time. When all milk has been added to the eggs, add the combined mixture back to the double boiler. Continue cooking and stirring until thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

4. Add the cooled pastry cream to the bowl of your stand mixer with the whip attachment. Mix until smooth.

5. Add the room temperature butter to the mixer, a little at a time, until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and use the same process to whip in the cream cheese.

To Plate Dessert:

1. Using 16 small serving cups, cut circles of cake (either using the cups themselves, a ring cutter of a similar size, or even free hand cutting). You won’t end up with 32 nice cake rounds, but that’s ok. Utilize the leftover scrap to place in the cups as your first layer of cake.

2. In each cup, layer cake, cream cheese frosting, cake, and cream cheese frosting. Then garnish each cup with compressed pineapple and praline cookie shards.