Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Quite an unexpected Easter weekend – filled with overwhelming disappointment, yet feeling so wonderfully refreshed. But for all of it, whether good or bad, I am so incredibly thankful.

Thankful to be eating sugar (!) again.

Thankful for the boyfriend who surprises me with my favorite ice cream to break my fast.

Thankful for awesome friends to eat too many green tea white chocolate chip cookies at midnight with. And to spend all night/morning  talking, crying, and praying with.

Thankful for the cross.

Thankful for finishing my senior capstone presentation with 3 hours to spare.

Thankful for less than 10 days until the end of the semester!

Thankful for delicious, DELICIOUS carrot cake cheesecake.

A truly sweet Easter weekend, indeed.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Source: Pennies on a Platter

Ingredients

For the cheesecake:

• 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 3 large eggs

For the carrot cake:

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well, reserve juice
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the frosting:

• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon reserved pineapple juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch springform pan.

2. To make cheesecake batter, place cream cheese and sugar in bowl of stand mixer and beat until smooth. Beat in flour, eggs, and vanilla until fully incorporated and no lumps remain. Set aside.

3. To make carrot cake batter, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix well. Add pineapple, carrots, coconut and walnuts, and stir until just combined.

4. To assemble the cheesecake, pour 1 1/2 cups of carrot cake batter over bottom of prepared pan. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese batter over carrot cake batter, using up 1/4 of batter and reserving the rest for top layer. Top with large spoonfuls of remaining carrot cake batter. Repeat with remaining cream cheese batter, then spread evenly with a knife.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 50-65 minutes, or until cake is set and cooked through. Cool completely, then cover and refrigerate. When cake is cold, prepare frosting.

6. To make frosting, use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla, and pineapple juice until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours before serving.

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