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Cakes and Tea

Kathleen's Blog

June 2019 - Ivy Lane Carrot Cake

6/1/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture

​I had yet another bite of bad carrot cake. In 2019! Haven’t we learned to bake a delicious carrot cake yet? Carrot Cake gets a bad rap, many times with good reason. Its faults can overshadow the very core of its inherent splendor. Not enough flavor, too much clove, too dry, too oily, raisins, too much frosting. Just kidding! You can’t have too much cream cheese frosting. But the other faults are all too common.

In California, in the 1970’s, carrot cake was the prevalent hippie cake, found at picnics, weddings, in delis, and in 13” by 9” pans at potlucks. It has a vegetable in its very name yet is moist and spicy-sweet. In Suzi’s and my wedding cake business, Ivy Lane, it was one of our two most popular wedding cake flavors. (The other popular flavor being our luscious lemon yogurt cake, featured in our June Wedding Reception Tea on this website.)
​
Our Carrot Cake recipe is a version modified from a C & H Sugar promotional cookbook, published in the 1970’s or 1980’s. A quick internet search finds a C & H Carrot Cake recipe on their website which is unfortunately not the original recipe. It sadly lacks one of the outstanding features: crushed pineapple. Check out the modern recipe here: C & H Sugar carrot cake recipe They have replaced the granulated sugar with brown sugar which might be okay, but why risk it? The one odd thing they kept was the notion that it should be frosted with orange buttercream frosting instead of everyone’s favorite, cream cheese frosting.  You’ll notice I’d crossed out the very name of that imposter frosting and written in cream cheese. You can see that this is a well-loved recipe. We’ve been making it as a layer cake or a sheet cake for so long, I’d forgotten that the original was made in a tube pan. It does work in a tube pan, but it might be too moist to be turned out of a Bundt pan with success.
​
Picture

​Rose made a delightful 13” by 9” Carrot Cake for my mom’s 70th birthday that we still recall with fondness and hunger pangs. She decorated the cream cheese frosting with strips of candied carrots which were very attractive and tasty. I used her idea when creating a gluten-free Carrot Cake for an auction. (It fetched $250!) I made carrot slice “flowers” and candied them in a sugar syrup. Not that pretty; I think Rose’s natural candied curls were better. An easy and traditional garnish is chopped nuts, strewn about the top and or sides of the frosted cake.
​
Picture

Ivy Lane Carrot Cake
Adapted from a C & H Sugar recipe
​
  • 2 ¾ cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg or mace (No nasty cloves!)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil, such as canola
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 packed cups shredded carrots
  • 1 can 8 ½ ounces crushed pineapple, undrained
 
Preheat oven to 350˚F
 
Special equipment: sifter or sieve, 2 large mixing bowls, wooden spoon, silicone scraper, 2 8” or 9” cake pans, sprayed with baking spray, lined with parchment circles and sprayed again, cooling rack
 
Makes one 8” or 9” layer cake
 
  1. In large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside
  2. In another large bowl, with wooden spoon, beat sugar and eggs until incorporated. Beat in oil and vanilla. Stir in carrots and pineapple.
  3. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture. Stir until combined. Divide batter into prepared pans.
  4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted into center of cake layers. Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Turn out layers and remove parchment papers, cool completely on rack.
  5. Fill and frost with cream cheese frosting. (1 cube of butter, 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese and 1 box of powdered sugar, beaten until smooth) Store chilled until serving time.
 
Some notes on the carrot cake
  • 1 large carrot makes about 1 cup of grated carrot
  • More grated carrot is always fine to add to the batter
  • The recipe makes about 6 cups of batter
  • It’s fine to double the recipe; use a total of 2 ½ cups oil
  • Doubled, the recipe makes two layers each of 6” and 10”
  • A teaspoon of apple or pumpkin pie spice in place of the other spices is fine
  • Some people like to add grated coconut to the batter
2 Comments

    Author

    Some random thoughts from Kathleen...

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Copyright © 2015 by Epilogics
  • Home
  • About/Blog
    • Who We Are
    • Our Credentials
    • Tea Travels - Rose's Blog
    • Cakes and Tea - Kathleen's Blog
    • Contact Us
  • The Tea Book
    • The Road Back to Civilization
    • A Brief History of Tea
    • Philosophy of Tea >
      • Harmony
      • Humility
      • Respect
      • Creativity
    • Guidelines for the Host/Hostess >
      • Gathering and Greeting
      • Sharing Stories
      • Sharing Food
      • Sending the Guests Home
    • Guidelines for the Guest >
      • Respect Your Hostess/Host
      • Bring a Gift if You Wish
      • Practice Humility
      • Monitor Your Conversation
      • Arrive with a Grateful Attitude
      • Help if Help is Needed
      • Do Not Criticize
      • Leave Gracefully
      • Send a Thank You Note
    • A Checklist for Planning a Tea Party
    • Teas of the World and How to Make Tea >
      • A Sampling of Teas
      • Herbal Teas and Tisanes
      • How to Make Tea
      • Making Iced Tea
      • Tea Concentrate
      • Brewing Tea for a Crowd
    • Tea Utensils and Accessories >
      • Tea Kettle
      • Tea Pot
      • Tea Cozy
      • Teacups
      • Plates
      • Silverware
      • Teacart
      • Tea Strainer
      • Tea Infuser
      • Three-Tiered Server
      • Cream Pitcher and Sugar Bowl
      • Cake Pedestal
      • Trifle Bowl
      • Jam Pots
      • Serving Dishes, Platters, and Trays
      • Silver Tea Set or Silver Tray
      • Linens
      • Kitchen Equipment for Food Preparation
    • Tea Menu Basics >
      • Sandwiches and Savories
      • Savory Spreads and Dips
      • Scones and Tea Breads >
        • About Lemons
    • Afternoon Tea and the Four Seasons >
      • A Spring Tea
      • An Outdoor Summer Tea
      • An Autumn Afternoon Tea
      • A Winter Afternoon Tea
    • A Calendar of Tea Parties >
      • January: A Japanese New Year’s Tea
      • February: A Valentine’s Day Tea
      • March: A St. Patrick’s Day Irish Tea
      • April: An Easter Tea
      • May: A Mother’s Day Tea
      • June: A Wedding Reception Tea >
        • Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake
      • July: A Picnic Tea
      • August: A Family Reunion Tea >
        • A North American Family Reunion Tea
        • An Eastern Mediterranean Family Reunion Tea
        • A Kosher Family Reunion Tea
        • A Scandinavian Family Reunion Tea
      • September: An Ozark Farm Harvest Tea
      • October: A Tea to Honor Our Ancestors (Dia de los Muertos)
      • November: A Post Thanksgiving Tea
      • December: A Christmas Tea >
        • In Defense of Fruitcake: Fruitcakes and Candied Fruit
    • A World of Tea Parties >
      • A Chinese Dim Sum Tea
      • A Portuguese Tea
      • A Classic British Afternoon Tea
      • An Indian Chai Party
      • A California Tea
      • A Hawaiian Tea
      • An Italian Tea
      • An American Southern Tea
      • A Russian Tea
      • A French Afternoon Tea
      • A Kosher Tea with Tradional Jewish Foods
    • Afternoon Tea for Special Occasions >
      • An Afternoon Tea for Children
      • A Tea for Our Elders
      • A Honey Bee Tea in the Garden
      • An Urban Tea on the Go
      • Tea for One
      • Afternoon Tea for a Large Group
      • A Vegan Tea
      • A Rose Tea
  • Purchase Recipes
  • Resources
    • Bibliography and Resources
    • Menu and Recipe Index
    • Commercial Food Products
    • Glossary