carrots in a cake!

many years ago, when my dormie, Stefanie, in UWCAC, was talking about baking a carrot-cake one saturday, i remember looking at her kinda confused. the only 'carrot-cake' i knew then was this yummy asian version of grated radish mixed with rice flour, steamed in large cubes, and then fried and served savoury... Stefanie is Italian (or German-Italian) and it was really unlikely that she's tried the type of carrot-cake i grew up enjoying... but she was real certain of making it! so i watched her in the student-house kitchen grating carrots and dumping it into a gooey mix and coaxing the stuff into the heated oven. it was as she said, carrot cake! and it was yum.

during the many years i've spent in the UK, i've always enjoyed my nibbles of carrot-cake but without the super-sweet icing on top... unless it had cream-cheese 'frosting' like the way the organic deli, across from where i once lived as a student with two other flatmates, would make and sell it... but i've never attempted to bake one myself. the closest i got to was finding and printing out a recipe. that was nearly 5 years ago.

a few days ago i finally decided i would try it out so i could bring it to the Thanksgiving get-together at the Boeffs... i always like to bring something whenever i am a guest (mainly as an excuse to procrastinate!). but when i studied the recipe, the amount of sugars called for was a little more than alarming! being a totally non-devout recipe-follower anyway, i took the liberty of modifying it based on what i thought was sound... while keeping the cinnamony-spicey holiday season warmth of what the cake symbolized intact... and am glad to discover that not only was the cake edible, it was well-liked by a nearly 3-yr old toddler who insisted on having her cake, eating it! and asking for a second helping! wow. little did i know what the magic of carrots in a cake entailed!

so here's the recipe a la yours truly... =)

carrot cake

- 2 & 3/4 cups of grated carrots (3 large carrots)
- 1 tin of pineapple purée (syrup drained off)
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup of raisins (optional)
- 1 cup vegetable oil

- 1 cup brown / castor sugar
- 2 & 1/4 cups of plain/cake flour (sifted)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 & 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 to 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves OR allspice
- 1/4 tsp salt

*) if you don't live in the US where ovens and stoves are always on auto-pilot, pre-heat oven to 350°F OR 180°C
**) line a cake tin (e.g. 9-12'') with parchment paper; grease and flour the sides
1) mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl
2) blend in vegetable oil into a smooth paste
3) beat in eggs individually
4) mix in pineapple purée and carrots
*) heat oven to 350°F OR 180°C if it's not already preheated
5) pour mixture into lined/greased cake tin
6) bake in the middle of the oven for about 30-45mins, until tester slides cleanly out.
7) remove and allow to cool for about 5 mins
8) remove cake from tin to cool completely before frosting, if desired.

cream cheese 'frosting'

- 14-16 oz. organic light cream-cheese or quark
- 1 (&1/2 if you prefer a sweeter frosting) cup extra-fine raw sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract

1) beat cream cheese until soft and light
2) blend in vanilla
3) blend in sugar
4) 'frost' the cake when it is cool and decorate with edible festive sprinklers etc. if desired.

serve with tea, coffee or wine... or just dig in... =) enjoy!

... now i just need to find a decent recipe for madeleines... hmmmmmm.

posted by ~overacuppa~ on Thursday, 22 November, 2007 at 23:01 hrs