OT - Favourite carrot cake recipe?

I am going to make a carrot cake for the baby's first birthday (he loves carrots). However, my recipe and many I have seen, call for oil in the recipe. How disgusting is that? I usually substitute cooked apple, or in muffin recipes that call for that, cooked and pureed zuchini.

What is your favourite carrot cake recipe? This will be road tested by a one-year-old baby and the neighbour children - 5, 7 and 9!

Thanks, Jo in Scotland

Reply to
Jo Gibson
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Not disgusting at all: it makes a nice rich moist cake. You'd use the same weight in butter in any other similar sized cake mixture after all.

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I've never baked a carrot cake but I did a quick survey for you. Not even the American Heart Association's cookbook attempts a carrot cake without oil. I expect you're stuck with it. And just how can it be possible that your happy darling can be already turning a year old? Warm best wishes to all of you! Polly

"Kate XXXXXX" < ...

Reply to
Polly Esther

Reply to
Taria

Just made my favourite applesauce/carrot cake from an old standby recipe from a women's magazine in the 70s. Makes a big 13x9 pan or a bundt pan. Yes, it uses oil, but only 3/4 cup. I use a little less sugar and have used pureed frozen apples instead of applesauce.

2 3/4 cups flour 3 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 3 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 4 eggs 3/4 cup oil 2 cups sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 jar (15 oz) applesauce 3 cups shredded carrots [about 1 pound] 1 cup golden raisins 1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. With whisk, beat eggs. Stir in oil, sugar and vanilla. Add applesauce and carrots; mix well. Add to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. Fold in raisins and

1/2 cup walnuts. Pour into greased pan and sprinkle with remaining walnuts. [For fluted pan, sprinkle walnuts in the bottom of a greased pan] Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes for a sheet cake, 65 minutes for bundt pan. Last time I made this, I didn't have enough walnuts, so used half walnuts, half pecans. Yummy!
Reply to
Kimberley I. Graham

Here is the recipe I use, I got it from a kosher website where it is titled "Uncle Leible's Carrot Cake". Apparently Uncle Leible is quite fond of his carrot cake. It makes a vast carrot cake, an entire 2 piece tube pan full. But it is a nicely moist cake, in part due to the pineapple I think, and it does not take a great deal of oil for so large a cake.

Preheat oven to 350F

3 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. cloves 1/4 tsp. salt Sift the above ingredients into a large bowl.

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup crushed pineapple (drained if possible) 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla 2 1/2 cups carrots (grated) 1 cup raisins 1/2 cup oil

Beat eggs until light and foamy. Gradually add the sugar. Add the rest of the "wet" ingredients. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are blended. Add the sifted flour mixture a little at a time. Make sure that the mixture is thoroughly moist before adding more flour Continue until the flour mixture is used up.

Pour batter into a well greased bundt or tube pan. Bake at 350F for about

45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. Invert and allow to cool on a rack before GENTLY removing from the pan. I recommend a two piece tube pan for this cake - the two piece tube pan makes removal of the cake much much easier.

I make this out as 15-20 slices of cake. Definitely 20 if you frost it.

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

Thanks, NM for the recipe! I am going to make this this week for my DIL's Bday. yum, i love the pinapple addition!! amy in SoCal

Reply to
amy in SoCal

I can't imagine how dry a carrot cake would be if made without oil. Here's my SIL's recipe that won first prize at a local fall fair a few years ago. Simple and delicious. BTW, no matter which recipe you use, there's little resemblance to carrots in carrot cake so I hope baby is not disappointed.

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Prize Winning Carrot Cake

Cakes

1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup oil 3 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-1/3 teaspoons baking powder 1-1/3 teaspoons baking soda 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1-1/3 cups flour 2 cups carrot (raw); grated 1/2 cup raisins 1 recipe cream cheese frosting

Combine sugar and oil with beater. Add eggs one at a time while continuing to beat. Sift dry ingredients together and add to sugar and oil mixture. Beat until well blended. Fold in carrots and raisins. Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake in 300F oven for 1 hour. Cool on rack. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 package (85g) cream cheese; softened 1/3 cup butter; softened 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3-1/2 cups icing sugar 1 teaspoon milk 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in bowl. Add sugar and milk and mix until smooth and creamy. Add more sugar to thicken or milk to thin as needed. Spread on cooled cake. If desired, sprinkle chopped nuts over top.

Notes: Marguerite Reid (1st prize Orangeville Fall Fair)

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.87 **

Gerry.

Reply to
Gerry

I'm betting that a blender would do quick work with grating the carrots and save your pretty hands for quilting. =) Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

I will often replace oil with applesauce if I know someone is watching their calories. I have used it in cakes and cookies and there is no noticeable difference is taste or texture. I use an equal amount of what is called for.

Here in the States they have unsweetened and sweetened. I think unsweetened is what I used since the recipients are calorie conscious.

Marilyn

Reply to
Marilyn Goodwin

I substitute with applesauce too, at least for some of the oil amount. My pantry always has a few containers of baby food applesauce; keeps me from letting a jar go ranky on me. Baby food bananas are also very good for banana nut bread; careful - they do like to toss in stuff like pineapple which might be a taste surprise. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Instead of the baby food applesauce, I use the regular small containers of applesauce. (comes in a 6 pack) Works very well. Barbara in FL, thinking I'll go get one now for desert

Reply to
Bobbie Sews More

I made some over the holiday and it was the BEST I ever ate. I based it on Dorrie Greenspan's recipe , which you can see here:

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I included the coconut and left out the nuts and it was fantastic. The recipe makes 3 layers or 3 medium loaves. It does NOT need frosting to be drool-worthy.

Actually, I made carrot cake because I had a ton of carrot-raisin slaw with pineapple (carrot, raisins, crushed pineapple, about 2 T sugar and about 2 T light salad dressing) left over. I just used that for my shredded carrots and added enough raisins to come up to what the cake required.

I will definitely make this again. I will probably use her recipe but add in a little pineapple.

Monique in TX

Reply to
Monique in TX

I often substitute cooked apple for oil (if not all, at least half or more) in recipes, and it is always delicious. I do this all the time for muffin recipes, and they are lovely and they are all eaten, believe me.

I think the baby will appreciate the cake. He eats a lot, is 80 centile and loves food... the only food he has ever spat out was Thai curry. Everything else (including pumpkin pie, chicken tikka masala, chili, pizza with peppers and spiced pepperoni) has vanished without a trace!

-- Jo in Scotland

Reply to
Jo Gibson

Have you tried him with olives? My 11yo nephew has been eating them since he was tiny.........people can't believe it when he tucks in!

Megwen

Reply to
Megwen

Monique, you sound like my kind of cook. What fun to toss some slaw in a cake and get away with it ( but we can) and carrots are just so Good for you. Today, I grated some to add to plain old tuna salad and the Yorkie said he would like a taste. He polished his bowl. You just never know. Polly

"Monique in TX" I made some over the holiday and it was the BEST I ever ate. I based it

Reply to
Polly Esther

James had a spinach filter. Everything else went down the hatch!

He's not fussy now, but has developed a few more dislikes, such as cooked mushrooms and cooked courgettes...

Carrot cake would be a big hit.

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

When James was about 8 months old, we went to his godfather's for dinner... Baby wanted to play - and eat! So godfather gave him a bagel with olives... then one with sundried tomatoes... They were only tiddly home made bagels, but three olive ones vanished. We found the remains of the last one under him when we took him out of the chair to put him to bed: he'd eaten all the olives out of it, and about half the bread!

Since then it's been hard to keep olives, goat cheese, most other sorts of cheese except blue cheese, and most other foods in the house for more than a day!

He's becoming a fine cook in his own right.

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Yes, he likes olives and gets most of the sliced black ones from my Subway sandwich. Today for various reasons we had Subway for dinner, and he stuck the olives slices on his fingers like "rings". Then ate them. He also happily downed several pickle slices, cut up by me. A boy after my own heart.... or sandwich....

-- Jo in Scotland

Reply to
Jo Gibson

Here's my recipe Jo - it's always a hit with friends and family and the oil really makes it nice and moist.

CLASSIC CARROT CAKE

1 can (8 oz.) unsweetened crushed pineapple 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons cinnamon =BC teaspoon salt 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil 2 cups shredded carrots =BE cup chopped walnuts

FROSTING:

2 packages (8 oz. Each) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened =BC cup butter, softened 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 =BD cups icing sugar

Drain pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons juice (discard remaining juice or save for another use). In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, carrots, pineapple and reserved juice; beat until combined. Stir in walnuts.

Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in icing sugar until smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Yield: Approximately 12 servings

Reply to
Sharon

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