Carrot Cake Swirl Cheesecake

Homemade carrot cake and rich cheesecake batters are swirled together to create the ultimate springtime dessert. A topping of sweetened sour cream offers a delightful tang, and the carrot ribbon garnish makes an elegant presentation.

I hope you don’t mind me squeezing in just one more Easter dessert before the holiday. I have this cheesecake in my refrigerator right now, getting properly chilled for our dessert buffet on Sunday. Whenever I’m hosting a big holiday dinner, I appreciate dishes that can be made ahead of time. This is one of them, and it just happens to be delicious and so season appropriate!

You’ll need 1 1/2 cups of grated carrots for this cake. Although it may seem convenient to buy pre-shredded carrots at the grocery store – I don’t recommend doing so. Most prepackaged carrot shreds are too bulky and won’t cook down as well. Use a large box grater to get thin, feathery pieces of carrot for this cake. It’s the most work you’ll do for this recipe, and you’ll be glad you did!

The grated carrots and pecans are folded into a cinnamon-spiced batter to create the carrot cake swirl.

This mixture is then layered with cheesecake batter in a 9-inch spring form pan that has been lightly greased.

Use a knife to swirl the two batters together, but be careful to not scrape the bottom or sides of the greased pan, otherwise the baked cheesecake may stick!

The baked cheesecake will be puffy and slightly jiggly in the center when you remove it from the oven. Let it stand, uncovered, until it comes to room temperature. The cake will slightly deflate. Cover and chill it until firm, about 4 hours.

Before serving, a nice big helping of sweetened sour cream goes on top, and then it bakes for just a few minutes in the oven to set the topping.

The garnishes are optional, but a sprinkle of broken pecan pieces around the top edge looks really nice and adds a little more crunch.

I added a few fresh carrot ribbons on top, too. These are easily made with a vegetable peeler. Just run the peeler lengthwise-down a large carrot. When you have a handful of ribbons, place them on the top center of the cake.

I hope all those celebrating on Sunday have a lovely holiday, and a happy spring to everyone! 

This blog post is sponsored by the American Butter Institute, and the recipe was developed for their website Go Bold With Butter!

Carrot Cake Swirl Cheesecake

Heather Baird

Homemade carrot cake and rich cheesecake batters are swirled together to create the ultimate springtime dessert. A topping of sweetened sour cream offers a delightful tang, and the carrot ribbon garnish makes an elegant presentation.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

4 hours chill time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Equipment

• 9-inch spring form pan

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• Cake Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cup 180g all-purpose flour
• 1 cup 200g granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons butter melted
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1 1/2 cups about 2 large grated carrots
• 1/2 cup 2 oz. chopped pecans
• Cheesecake Ingredients:
• 16 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 cup 150g granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup 120g sour cream
• Icing Ingredients:
• 1 cup 240g sour cream
• 1/4 cup 50g granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup 1 oz. chopped pecans, for garnish
• Carrot ribbons or grated carrots for garnish (optional)

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spray a 9 inch spring form pan with flour-based cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in the oil and melted butter, then add beaten eggs and mix until combined. Add the grated carrots and chopped pecans, stir until combined. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in salt and all-purpose flour. Mix in the vanilla and eggs, beating well between each addition. Add sour cream and mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
• Pour 2/3 of the carrot cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Pour in 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture on top of the carrot cake batter. Alternate the remaining carrot cake and cheesecake batters, ending with the cheesecake batter on top. Insert a butter knife into the layered batters and swirl. Place the cheesecake in the oven and bake until center is slightly jiggly, about 1 hour.
• Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature 1 hour, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Run a knife around inside of spring form pan to loosen the sides of the cake, but do not release from pan.
• Just before serving, preheat oven again to 350 degrees. Thoroughly mix sour cream and sugar by hand in a medium bowl, then pour over top cheesecake and smooth with a spatula. Place in the oven and bake for six minutes. Remove the cheesecake from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Release the collar from the spring form pan.
• Garnish the top of the cheesecake with the chopped pecans and carrot ribbons.

Keyword carrot cake, cheesecake, chopped pecans, easter cakes, grated carrots

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