ICING for CARROT CAKE?...ps what is QUARK?

[noonar]

i have 2 recipes for carrot cake icing (am making dh a bday cake)- one cranks, one delia. both require ingredients that i cannot get at the local shops- namely , Quark and creme fraiche. is quark similar to philadelphia - could i use that instead?

alternatively, could you suggest a philadelphia- based recipe, anyone? tia

quark is a very low fat cheese .. that tastes of ... well it tastes blah really

philly is thicker .. but yes you can use philly I'm sure .. just keep adding icing sugar and maybe some drops of vanilla until it tastes nice (this is just guess-work)

dont make the delia one....
i cant get iit right

yes use philly

thanks twiglett, will try that

pops do you mean the low fat cake in 'the how to cook 1' book? is the whole recipe no good? or just the icing?

I use a recipe from Good Housekeeping - cream cheese (Philly ok), icing sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Works very well.

thanks, notquite, am now worried about the actual cake!

pops, are you there???

thanks, notquite, am now worried about the actual cake!

pops, are you there???

am here
yes it is that one....

the bit that makes it go wrong is adding the syrupy stuff at the end....

leave that bit out

.....of no help to you whatsoever, but is it possible to say Quark without sounding like a parrot or bird of some description?????? Or is it just me?

thanks pops, if i will leave it out then. it wont be dry without it?
lol betty! QUORN is also tricky to say without sounding like 'corn'.

notquitecockney, if you are still about, i'd be grateful for the exact recipe, as have noticed the quark recipe uses caster sugar for the icing. not sure that philly and caster sugar will work. so would like to try yours. what proportions of each ingredient do you use?

bump for NQC or anyone else with good housekeeping recipe. please!

I think you might be able to sieve cottage cheese to make an alternative to quark, but frankly, I suspect life's too short.

I made a courgette cake yesterday which is totally scrummy and v v similar to carrot cake. Faced same dilemma in the cheese aisle of sainsburys and ended up going for mascarpone for the icing. Mixed 200g mascarpone with 150g icing sugar and juice of 1 lime (guess that orange would be better with carrot cake) and it's really nice.

Quark is boggin', a relative uses it for her dh who has high blood pressure. Avoid like the plague, all other suggestions here sound yummy.

sorry, must go get DS2, will type recipe when back.

philadelphia ok...would go for mascarpone personally but hey

a quark is a fundemental particle, along with leptons

alernatively its the noise the gulls make in finnegans wake

I think its a character in star trek?

I'm quite sad really, aren't I...

in my cream cheese frosting (what I typically put on carrot cake) the recipe is:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
500g icing sugar

Mix cream cheese, mik & vanilla together until smooth. Add in sugar 100g at a time, until smooth spreading consistency. makes enough to frost two 8 or 9 inch cake layers.

god, thats exactly what the co-op is like, what an apt description.

Ok, recipe is 250g mascarpone, 5ml finely grated orange zest, 30 ml orange juice, 30 ml icing sugar.

I'm sure it would work with philly in place of mascarpone. It makes a really nice, not v sweet, topping.

Of course I also have a low fat version, just noticed you made a low fat cake :

12oz red fat cream cheese
55g icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingred. together

NQC thankyou so much. i did usaukmum's recipe in the end as i dont have a measure for small quantiies- (30ml icing) and was nervous about messing it up!

thankyou for all your kind suggestions

it was yummy and we enjoyed licking the bowl especially. cant wait to eat it tomorrow. Mmmmmm