Making these little Litwick carrot cakes was an interesting process. Originally, I was going to bake carrot cake batter in cookie shot molds, and then stuff those with a lot of fun fillings, and decorate the exterior of the cakes to resemble little Litwicks. Litwicks, for those unfamiliar with them, are a Pokemon that is based on a candle. They are Ghost/Fire types, and resemble these little haunted candles with purple flames. I figured that since Litwick is a cylindrical Pokemon, I could use a cylindrical mold, such as the cookie shot molds, to make them. The issue, and this was my oversight, was that Litwicks are rather top heavy. While yes, they are based on round cylindrical candles, Litwicks are notable larger on the top. So in the end, I had to pivot, and use silicone muffin molds instead to shape my cakes. However, I had intended to make this recipe with carrot cakes as a basis to begin with, so I trudged forward with that in mind, and still did a Litwick-themed carrot cake, using a lot of fun and unique twists to keep the Halloween spirit alive and well! This treat does have some fun tricks in it, since I wanted to use a few different techniques to separate this carrot cake from a simple cupcake, even though it was assembled in a cupcake mold and the exterior kind of looks like a semi-melted cupcake-candle-thing. I wanted the interior to have a lot of fun contrasting components and surprises, just because what fun would it be for the whole thing to just be a solid chunk of carrot cake?

For the components, we have layers of carrot cake, black currant gelee, a lavender-honey no-bake cheesecake, a cream cheese ganache, and lavender bubble sugar. I was gifted lavender jelly(if you do not have this, sub out 1 oz of it with 2oz granulated sugar and 1g lavender extract) from a friend, and I figured that it would be a fun and definitely different way to incorporate a new flavor that you might not see with carrot cake. Lavender is, however, something associated with both scented candles and the color purple, so I figured it would be a fun touch to add to this recipe. I also wanted to use some black currant, a naturally purple ingredient, just to add more color contrast on the interior of the cake. Traditional carrot cake usually has raisins or dried fruits, but in this case, the black currant gelee is meant to be my substitution to that. With the assembly of this, I highly recommend knocking out the cake and gelee first, and getting those frozen solid for easier assembly. From there, getting the cheesecake done is a must. The cream cheese ganache can be tricky, since we are using cream cheese chips – I found that a little xanthan gum helps bind it so that you lower the chances of the ganache splitting when you are trying to whip it. I also used the lavender jelly in some bubble sugar, which is meant to resemble the purple flames on top of Litwick. Unlike with some of my previous Pokemon-themed creations, I did not bother giving this Litwick an eye. Simply because I wanted this to actually resemble a cake that takes traits from Litwick, instead of being a cake that looked exactly like it – yes, I could have done like fondant or modeling chocolate to finish, but I wanted to keep the flavors and components relatively clean.

Makes 4 Litwicks:
For the carrot cake:
1/4 cup finely grated carrot
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp brown butter
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda

In a bowl, mix everything together to form your batter. Pour the batter into a lined quarter sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Allow the cake to fully cool before cutting out 1-inch disks of the cake.

For the black currant gelee:
3oz black currant concentrate
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp agar agar

In a pot, bring everything to a simmer. Once the agar is dissolved into the concentrate, take the pot off heat. Pour into a shallow container refrigerate until set. Cut out 1-inch disks of the gelee. Freeze these and the cake disks solid for easier assembly.

For the lavender-honey no-bake cheesecake:
1/4 cup heavy cream
3oz lavender jelly
3oz honey
2 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
a pinch of salt
8oz cream cheese

Melt the cream, lavender jelly, honey, gelatin, and salt in a pot. In a bowl, whisk the cream cheese and then add to that the other ingredients to form your no-bake cheesecake. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag.

For initial assembly:
Start by placing down a round of the cake into the bottom of 4 silicone muffin molds. Then place onto that the disk of the gelee. Then do another round of cake, another round of the gelee, and a third round of cake. Pipe around the cakes and on top the cheesecake mixture. Transfer the cakes to the freezer, chilling them down for 3 hours before attempting to unmold.

For the cream cheese ganache:
8oz heavy cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter
a pinch of salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
8oz cream cheese chips
8oz white chocolate chips

In a pot, heat up everything on low heat, stirring until everything is melted together. Pour the ganache into a bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Then stir the ganache until it is spreadable. Spread the ganache around each frozen solid cake, shaping the tops of the cakes to resemble melted candle wax dripping off the edges in larger dollops. Should the ganache firm up too much, warm up an offset spatula, and this should help you spread it easier.

For the lavender bubble sugar:
1oz lavender jelly
1oz granulated sugar
1g corn syrup
a pinch of salt
1 tsp silver rum(or other clear alcohol)
1 dot purple gel food coloring

In a pot, bring lavender jelly, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt to a boil. Heat up the sugar to roughly 300 degrees F. Crumble up a sheet of parchment then flatten it back out. Spread onto that the rum and the ripple throughout that the purple gel food coloring. Pour the boiling hot sugar onto the parchment, allowing it to spread so that it thins out. Allow the sugar to fully cool before removing from the parchment, breaking into smaller pieces as necessary, and garnishing the tops of your cakes with them.