When that craving for cream cheese frosting and spiced-cake layers takes over the day, it may be high time to bake up your own carrot cake. Carrot cake has long been a spring-time treat, and original recipes have their roots in the Second World War era when sugar was in short supply. Carrots became a valuable alternative to sugar, and were soon used for cakes, breads and muffins.
The carrot cake today is often the crowning glory of a special dinner, but you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to bake up this tearoom classic. If you’re anxious to make a gourmet treat the whole family can enjoy, here are six tips to making yours (almost) perfect:
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #1: Use oil instead of butter
While some cakes benefit from a butter base, carrot cake is much moister when you use light vegetable oil or canola oil. Canola oil will give those cake layers the right firmness and texture you need
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #2: Grate your own carrots
It’s easy to pick up a pack of shredded carrots at the grocery store, but these can be too dry and leave you with a ‘chunks’ in your cake batter rather than mixing into the batter seamlessly. You can use a hand grater or food processor to get just the right size and texture from those fresh carrots; just remember to peel them first!
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #3: Use fresh spices
Avoid picking up a spice ‘mix’ for baking, and opt for real cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg powders that you can adjust to taste. The fresher the better, so turn to an organic baked goods store or specialty food supply chain to pick up your batch of spices.
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #4: Use orange zest in the batter
Orange zest is one of those little-known secrets to making perfect carrot cake, and can really take your cake from tasting ‘good’ to tasting great. Just grate the zest of one large orange and mix it into the batter with the carrots.
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #5: Use shredded coconut in the mix
Many people decorate the carrot cake with shredded coconut, but you can mix about 1 cup into most carrot cake recipes for an extra-sweet touch. Coconut adds texture and flavor to the cake layers and will help ‘ripen’ the cake after a few days in the refrigerator.
Perfect Carrot Cake Tip #6: Use walnuts instead of pecans
While some dessert lovers avoid nuts in cake altogether, using walnuts in carrot cake can make this dense dessert even more rich. Some recipes call for chopped pecans, but walnuts are a much better choice because they complement the spices in the cake well and have a distinct flavor.
If you’re looking for some great carrot recipes to get started on your baking venture, websites including RecipeZaar and AllRecipes.com offer several classic recipes to experiment with. Practice makes perfect when it comes to baking your unforgettable carrot cake, so tweak the recipes with these top six tips in mind.
