Feb. 3 National Carrot Cake Day

donna

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
According to historians of food, the modern carrot cake descended from Medieval Carrot Puddings enjoyed in Europe. One of the recipes dates back to 1591 in "A Booke of Cookrye". It is written in Molly O'Neill's "New York Cookbook" (1992) that George Washington had carrot tea cake at the Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan. The date was November 25, 1783 for British Evacuation day.

Recipe for George Washington's Carrot Tea Cake:

" 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 3/4 cup canola oil, 2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, 2 cups grated carrots.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, eggs and carrots, and mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester comes our clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan 2 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack to finish cooling."

Recipe From: "The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook", 1975, by Mary Donovan, Amy Hatrack, and Frances Schull.

Information on history of Carrot Cake from:

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcake.html
 
I love carrot cake.
You can make it even without the fat, and with the egg whites beaten until solid. Because of the carrots it will not taste dry. For those who don't like cinnamon (surprisingly many) you can add lemon juice from 1 lemon instead for a fresh taste. Makes the cake more orange because it prevents the carrots from getting brownish.
 
For a non-chocolate eater like myself, I LOVE carrot cake. I have a recipe somewhere that has pineapple in it, which is really good. Will try to find it, donna.

I don't much make carrot cake because it's always quite good in restaurants and I'm not tempted by the rest of the cake.
 
Like carrot cake with Cream Cheese icing! Goes great with coffee or cold milk. Maybe someone will volunteer to bring some along on the trip to Gettysburg CWT members are planning for this May or June! (Hope, hope) (Hint, hint)
You can have my icing! :smile:
 
Like carrot cake with Cream Cheese icing! Goes great with coffee or cold milk. Maybe someone will volunteer to bring some along on the trip to Gettysburg CWT members are planning for this May or June! (Hope, hope) (Hint, hint)
Aw, MRB, if carrot cake could bring me to Gettysburg this year, I would volunteer to feed all members with it.
I like carrot cake but don't like carrot cake icing - any ideas?

You could try and just sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top. I don't like icings myself so much, so this might be an alternative.
Or mix confectioner's sugar with some drops of lemon juice until it is a thickly liquid and pour it over the cake. That's how I like it most.
 
King Arthur Flours has some great recipes I like to make. This one is especially good! It's not for carrot cake purists - and you know who you are! :laugh:

"Kitchen Sink" Carrot Cake

Cake

4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
3 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup diced pecans or walnuts, toasted if desired
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (preferred) or sweetened coconut
1/2 cup diced dried pineapple*
*Substitute one 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained and squeezed dry, if preferred

Frosting

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk, or enough to make frosting spreadable

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
2) Beat the eggs, sugars, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl till smooth, about 2 minutes at medium-high speed.
3) Mix the melted butter with the oil. With the beater running, add the oil mixture in a stream, beating till smooth.
4) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, leaveners, salt, and spices. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring to make a smooth batter.
5) Stir in the carrots, nuts, coconut, and pineapple.
6) Spoon the batter into the pan, spreading it to the edges.
7) Bake the cake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes
out clean.
8) Remove the cake from the oven, and cool right in the pan.
9) When it's completely cool, make the frosting.
10) Combine the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt in a medium-sized bowl, and beat together until light and fluffy.
11) Add the sugar gradually, beating well.
12) Add the milk a little at a time, until the frosting is a spreadable consistency.
13) Spread frosting over the cake. Garnish with minced crystallized ginger, if desired.

Yield: 9" x 13" sheet cake, about 24 servings.

Source: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/kitchen-sink-carrot-cake-recipe
 
There was a nice little underground cafe here, in the basement of an old building downtown, and their carrot cake was legendary. Nevermind their great breakfasts, BLTs, hamburgers.... The Carrot Cake was the thing everybody came for. They had pictures of it all over, with ribbons and trophies - there really are carrot cake competitions! - and boasted 5 pounds of carrots in each of their four layer carrot cakes. The place went out of business and their marvelous delicacy went with them. :cry: :cry: :cry:
 
I am a sucker for the cream cheese icing on carrot cake.helping in my brother in laws bakery I must have made over a thousand pounds of the icing and may eaten half of it.we used to make carrot cake in full sheet pans and cut it 12 piece strips.
 
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I love carrot cake.
You can make it even without the fat, and with the egg whites beaten until solid. Because of the carrots it will not taste dry. For those who don't like cinnamon (surprisingly many) you can add lemon juice from 1 lemon instead for a fresh taste. Makes the cake more orange because it prevents the carrots from getting brownish.


Carrot cake without fat is like cheesecake without real cream cheese.
 
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Carrot cake without fat is like cheesecake without real cream cheese.

Oh no, no, it's really good! If you knew me you would know that I'm a foodie and I would never eat things that don't taste good just because the are "low-fat" or even "fat-free"! If I eat these things then because they taste really good!
That carrot cake is a favorite of my significant other, which alone tells volumes ... this is one rare example of something that is delicious without putting any weight on your hips.
 
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Love carrot cake. I always joke that if it's a cake with fruit or in this case a vegetable in it, it's not really bad for you! :tongue:

I like carrot cake but don't like carrot cake icing - any ideas?
I'm not fan of the cream cheese frosting either. It's okay, but I end up taking most of it off. I usually make a basic vanilla frosting which goes nicely with the carrot cake base. I even experimented the last time by adding teaspoon of cinnamon into the frosting while it was mixing right after I added the sugar. It added a little spark of flavor to the frosting and cut down on the sweetness too.
 
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