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OxfordPress.com

Carrot cake recipes

By Meridith Ford

Dayton Daily News

Ideas and ingredients from three carrot-cake recipes were combined in the Absolutely Perfect Carrot Cake. I developed a version of what I like best in a carrot cake. It's dense and moist but with a light crumb. It's sweet, with a strong, but not overpowering, spice flavor. It gets a lot of good old-fashioned rustic texture from raisins, nuts and medium-coarse carrots and uses a little honey for a rich flavor.

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT CARROT CAKE

Makes 16 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup honey

2 cups grated carrots

3/4 cup baking raisins

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (or use Baker's Joy) two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Set aside.

Combine with a whisk the eggs, oil, granulated sugar and honey and mix until well-blended. Fold in the flour mixture, carrots, raisins and nuts.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the center of the cakes spring back when touched lightly. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks and cool completely.

Ice with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows).

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, with Cream Cheese Frosting: 663 calories, 76 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 34 g fat , 78 mg cholesterol, 298 mg sodium.

This is the quintessential frosting for any carrot cake. You may want to double this recipe.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Makes 16 servings

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, slightly softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon lemon oil or extract

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until creamy. Add the confectioners' sugar and lemon oil and mix until smooth and light.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 269 calories, 29 g carbohydrates, no fiber, 17 g fat, 31 mg cholesterol, 43 mg sodium.

The first cake I made was the best before the recipe was tweaked to produce the Perfect Carrot Cake. I found it in The Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook, published in 1983 by Oxmoor House, the book division of Southern Living magazine. Called "traditional carrot cake," it was the most straightforward, using all-purpose flour for backbone and baking powder as leavening. The generous amount of oil contributes to the cake's moist texture. This cake works best if the carrots are grated fine in a food processor.

'SOUTHERN HERITAGE' CARROT CAKE

Makes 16 servings

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups granulated sugar

3 cups grated carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe on this page)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans (baking sprays that contain flour, such as Baker's Joy, are fine to use as well).

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set mixture aside.

Combine eggs, oil and sugar; beat until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture and the carrots.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks and let cool completely.

Ice with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe on this page).

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, with Cream Cheese Frosting: 601 calories, 68 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 36 g fat, 78 mg cholesterol, 260 mg sodium.

This recipe, taken from Baking at Home With the Culinary Institute of America (John Wiley & Sons, $40), has a dense, strong crumb from the use of bread flour and is leavened with baking soda and baking powder (which contributes to the fineness of the crumb). It contains nuts and is baked in a tube pan. The strength of the bread flour can stand up to coarsely grated carrots. It uses the whipping method — whipping the eggs with oil and then incorporating the other ingredients — which is rare for a carrot cake. This method gives the crumb a finer texture and a little more volume.

CIA'S CARROT CAKE

Makes 16 servings

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 2/3 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3 large eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts (pecans if desired)

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe on this page), whipped cream or confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Sift the sugar and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.

Whip the eggs on medium speed until thick, about 3 minutes. Increase speed to high and continue whipping until the eggs fall in thick ribbons from the whisk, about 4 minutes. Gradually add the oil and continue to whip until evenly blended.

Add the sugar mixture slowly to the egg mixture while continuing to whip at medium speed until well-blended.

Add the flour mixture to the batter, mixing on low speed until just incorporated. Fold in the carrots and walnuts by hand using a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before icing and slicing.

If made in a straight-sided tube pan, the cake can be frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting. For a bundt cake, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, with Cream Cheese Frosting: 520 calories, 62 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 29 g fat, 66 mg cholesterol, 172 mg sodium.

I found I like this cake best as a muffin or minibundt. I also like it much better with the addition of nuts and raisins, for a rustic texture. Beranbaum's recipe called for decorating the cakes with candied carrot peel, but that is optional.

ROSE LEVY BERANBAUM'S GOLDEN WHEAT CARROT CAKE

Makes 12 minibundt cakes or 24 muffins

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 cup baking raisins, * optional

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe on this page)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour minibundt pans or muffin tins.

In a small bowl, combine the carrots and lemon juice.

Sift together in a large mixing bowl the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the eggs, butter, honey and carrot mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high with a hand-mixer) and beat for 30 seconds or until well-mixed. Add the nuts and raisins, if desired, by hand.

Scrape the batter into prepared muffin or minibundt tins. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed lightly in the center. Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans. Ice with Cream Cheese Frosting and decorate with Candied Carrot Peel.

* Sun Maid baking raisins are readily available in the dried-fruits section of the supermarket. They are best to use in baked goods, because they are already "plumped" and won't remove moisture from the recipe.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving (based on 12 with Frosting): 597 calories, 73 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 34 g fat, 103 mg cholesterol, 292 mg sodium.