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Carrot cake, with its cream cheese icing, is one of the top fad foods in the USA. Carrot cake is a cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter including optional ingredients, such as pineapple or raisins, nuts cinnamon and/or other spices. The most common icing on carrot cake in Europe is icing sugar and lemon juice, whereas, frosting with cream cheese, butter and sugar, in the United States.
Carrots have been used in sweet cakes since the medieval period, during which time sugar were scarce and expensive. Carrots and sugar beets, containing more sugar than any other vegetables, were much easier to acquire and were used to make sweet desserts. The origins of carrot cake are disputed. Recipes go back as early as 1827. The oldest known recipe of carrot cake/rübelitorte dates from 1892, in a book of the housekeeping school of Kaiseraugst, Switzerland.
I make varieties of carrot cakes. I try every new recipe, as in ratio of the obvious ingredients to come up with the tastiest I can come up with. One of the best if not the best recipe I came across was Suzanne’s recipe of carrot cake. I made the cake exactly per Suzanne’s recipe (w/o the ginger) for my party. Everybody loved it! So moist, not too sweet and perfect! But as we foodies have to add our own twist to every recipe (which we know is perfect already), second time I made the cake, I integrated a similar recipe I had. With some changes, this recipe also was a hit at a potluck dessert event.
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Carrot Cake
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
• 260 g/ 2 cups all purpose, unbleached flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 450 g/ 2¼ cups granulated sugar
• 240 ml/ 1 cup vegetable oil
• 350 g/ 2 cups carrots, grated or semi-finely pulsed by food processor
• 280 g/ 10 oz crushed canned pineapple with its juice (take 4 Tbsp juice out and set aside for the frosting [1])
• 120 g/ 1 cup pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
DIRECTIONS
◊ Spray two 23cm/ 9″ round, non-stick cake pans with non-stick spray and especially on the sides. Line with parchment-paper to fit the bottom, spray again. (This process is important as the cake tends to stick to the pan and not come out intact.)
◊ In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
◊ Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 165°C/325°F.
◊ With an electric beater, beat eggs and sugar until combined and while beating, add oil in a stream. Still, while beating, add combined dry ingredients, a spoonful at a time. When well incorporated. Then by hand, using silicone spatula, mix the carrots, pineapple and nuts. Pour evenly ½ each in the prepared baking pans.
◊ Bake for 45 ~ 50 minutes or until cake is golden brown, and bamboo skewer (or toothpick) inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the cake pan for at least 10 minutes. Place a plate over the cake pan and invert. Remove parchment paper and place on cooling rack until cakes are fully cooled before frosting.
◊ Cream cheese frosting [1]: Place one layer of the cake topside down on a flat serving platter. Evenly spread 2/5 of the frosting on top. Place the second layer bottom side down. If the top of the cake is not flat, use a serrated knife to cut the top to make even. Spread the other 3/5 of the cream cheese evenly and neatly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
~ Bon Appétit! ~
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{1} Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
Inspired by: Suzanne of A Pug In The Kitchen (apuginthekitchen.com)
INGREDIENTS
* To cover the entire cake, double recipe is needed
113 g/ 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature and soft
113 g/ 4 oz / 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature and soft
200 g/ 1 ¾ cups confectioners sugar
3 ~ 4 Tbsp pineapple juice
DIRECTIONS
◊ In a mixer bowl, with silicone spatula, combine cream-cheese, butter, sugar and pineapple juice until sugar is incorporated. Then with the electric beater, beat until fluffy. Cover and store in refrigerator to chill. (If planning to decorate the cake by piping, put in the piping bag with the desired tip and refrigerate until use.)
◊ Cake decorating suggestion: Round or cut in hexagon in this case… place one layer of the cake topside down on a flat serving platter. Evenly spread 1/3 of the frosting on top. Place the second layer bottom side down. If the top of the cake is not flat, use a serrated knife to cut the top to make even. Spread enough cream cheese on top to cover smoothly. Pipe two rows around the edges (used Witon tip 2E here). With the back of a knife from the edges to the center, pull the frosting where cuts would be made for slicing. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
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that cake looks incredible
Thank you. Today I explored your blog briefly and what I saw I really liked! 🙂
This is just gorgeous, Fae! I really wish that I could reach through the screen and grab a big piece! 😀
Thank you, Julianna! It sure is a good one! 🙂
Hello, Fae
I have nominated you for the Infinity Dreams Award, because I love your blog. Here’s the link to the page on Deborah’s Notebook: https://deborahsnotebook.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/infinity-dreams-award/
If I have understood correctly, this involves you telling the world at large about 7 of your dreams and then nominating 7 other blogs in turn.
You might have done this before…
Kind regards from a hotel in Panama City!
Deborah
Sweet Deborah, Congratulations for your Infinity Dreams Award! And, thank you for your kind words, mention and the nomination. I love your dreams. Mine are the same. We want world peace for everyone. We want a beautiful world for out children to grow happy, healthy and prosperous. xoxo
The cake looks and sounds very delicious Fae. Carrot cake is something I have been wanting to try for some time.
It is a very versatile cake. You can experiment with the ingredients. Raisins instead of pineapple or nuts of preference, etc.
Leave it to you to take a regular carrot cake and add a beautiful design and the surprise pineapple flavor in there. This is a recipe i will definitely be making.
It really is a great one. Adding pineapple juice to the frosting is what I learned from Suzanne. Great idea, isn’t it!
This is such a beautiful cake, Fae! And it looks so yummy!
Oh yes. It was so difficult for me to keep myself from eating the whole thing. 😀 )))
Hi Fae,
So glad I found your site! We are home after 6 weeks traveling. Off to see all I missed of your deliciousness!
Cindy
O’ka’e’ri’na’sa’i (wlecome home) Cindy-san! I’ve been enjoying your photos! 🙂 What a trip it must have been. During which time, I was and still am organizing my blog. Meanwhile, I managed to post a few treats for the tummies! 🙂
Despite I’m not a huge fan of carrots, this is one my preferred American cake! I love the way you have decorate yours…. I’ should practise a lot with decorations!
Supposedly, I took couple of cake decorating classes. Doesn’t seem like I learned much. I improvise and I know you can too!
A favorite cake – love the shape of the one cake and the way you used the icing. Where’s the carrot decorations LOL!!!
I know, Judi. 😀 ))) I don’t have any food coloring, and forgot to extract some carrot juice to use. 🙁
Archived, definitely.
Good to see you, Sweet Ren! How are the studies coming along? Are you almost done? Enjoy! 🙂
Oh Fae, this is a firm favourite of mine, but one that I don’t make too often myself. Lovely to have this recipe on hand (inspired by Suzanne’s recipe) for future reference! Your decorating skills are fantastic as always! 🙂
Thank you! When I saw Suzanne’s cake, especially mixing of pineapple juice in the frosting, I couldn’t wait to make it. Decorating was an improvise. 🙂
Fae, you are killing me with this,,,It looks absolutely amazing and the texture is incredible! 🙂
Yes, Linda. 😀 ))) That is how I felt when I saw Suzanne’s cake. 😛
So delicious and stunning – looking, Fae! Double hat off to you and Suzanne! Hurray! 🙂
Thank you, Francesca. Suzannes’s post, especially her idea of mixing pineapple juice to the frosting was brilliant.
How gorgeous Fae, I love the ingredients in this carrot cake, and look at that beautiful display in the last picture! Just beautiful, love how you decorated it.
The funny thing is, it has as much calories as other cakes, but one feels as if having a lite, healthy cake. 😀 ))) Thank you for the kind words. The pineapple juice in the frosting (I learned from Suzanne) was the star, and I improvised the last touch. 🙂
It’s so beautiful Fae! I love how you didn’t put frosting on the side. Interesting to hear how carrots and beets were used because they are naturally sweet. I love carrot cake, it’s my favorite cake. 🙂
Hi Seana, First time I saw a carrot cake, I was quite surprised. Vegetable in a cake? I thought it was brilliant, after the first bite. I had comsi comsa ones, and great ones. This one hopefully is the latter. I agree about the amount of frosting. You can have your cake and a taste of the fabulous frosting w/o feeling guilty! 🙂
What a beautiful cake 🙂
Thank you, Sweet Elaine! 🙂
so beautiful!
Thank you! 🙂
I love carrot cake! I only make it once a year (at Thanksgiving) but every year I try a new recipe! Yours (I mean Sue’s) looks so delicious with the cream cheese frosting piled high! 🙂 I’m pinning this one for this year’s Thanksgiving!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Linda, Yes, yes, especially, learning from Suzanne to add pineapple juice to the frosting was brilliant! Now, you get to put your twist to it too! 🙂
This looks delicious! So many times I’ve had carrot cake that is too dry, but this looks like it would be really moist and soothing. Looking forward to trying this 🙂
Hi Andrew, Thank you. I decreased the oil amount in this cake as much as I could, without making it crumbly/dry. This one is moist due to the oil and the pineapple. 🙂
Your hexagonal cake is beautiful, Fae! I generally dump the frosting on and smooth it out. Then eat. Haha. I’m not much of a cake decorator. 🙂
I haven’t made a carrot cake in a long time. I will have to try your recipe!
I’ll tell you my secret. I baked a round cake for a party and couldn’t wait to taste it. Invention being mother of necessity, I thought of hexagon! Decoration was an improvisation of leaving a guide lines for cutting. 😀 )))
🙂