There are 3 things I constantly bake using different recipes. Brownies, chocolate cake and carrot cake. In fact, I’m very loyal to my recipes- of course, it is comfortable to know what you will get. But with these 3, I’m all eyes to new recipes with an everlasting passion that they can get better. For example, for the chocolate cake I can kill to get the recipe for Cheesecake Factory’s Chocolate Tower Cake.
But rest assured, the search for the carrot cake came to an end. When I first read that this is the ultimate carrot cake, I rolled my eyes… They all say so. Yet, I tried… and loved it.
The recipe is from Carole Bloom’s The Essential Baker: The Comprehensive Guide to Baking with Chocolate, Fruit, Nuts, Spices, and Other Ingredients, and I read about it at Zoe Bakes. Cake is very rich with the combination of all spices, orange zest, coconut and raisins. With every bite you get many layers of flavor… Really delicious. Where I come from we don’t frost our carrot cakes but please frost away with your favorite.
Carrot Cake
(for about 60 mini or 48 regular cupcakes or two 9inch cake pans or 6 cup bundt pan)
1 pound coarsely grated carrots
4 extra large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 large orange
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmegs
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup raisin (optional, I did not used.)
Directions:
1) Oil the pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Grate the carrots. Toast the walnuts. Mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract and orange zest.
3) Mix together all of the dry ingredients and raisins in a bowl. (Mix raisins with flour so that they don’t sink to the bottom of the pan.)
4) Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Add the carrots, walnuts and coconut.
5) Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake bundt pans for 45-50 minutes, 9inch cakes for 35-40 minutes and cupcakes for about 18-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
We also tried to cook the carrot cake today. Thanks to this recipe, we even have ground cloves at home now. I had no idea the ground cloves even exist. We loved the carrot cake, you feel different taste in every bite. But it took a lot longer to cook than the recipe. As 350 degrees didn’t work, we tried 375 degrees after 40 minutes.
you’re funny! I’m glad it worked eventually. I rechecked the original recipe and 350 is correct. But it is often said that type of oven plays a big role in baking, may be that’s it. So, it is good to have 2 PhDs in the kitchen. Problem solved and bellies happy
Personally I wouldn’t frost, it makes it overly sweet. But that’s just me…
Yes, exactly! I don’t frost either!