Carrot Cake

[oli]

This is a carrot cake recipe and I can't read the egg measurement. It was hand printed a number of years ago acquire while I was on vacation. The hand printing looks like 10/unit, does this look correct and do you have any idea about how many eggs should be used?

500g marg.
300g sugar
vanilla 20ml
eggs 10/units
flour 600g
carrot 500g
orange juice 100ml

[Dave Hatfield]

I find the recipe listed in eGullet's archives to be the best I've ever tried.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/128617-passover-carrot-cake/?hl=%2Bcarrot+%2Bcake.

It never fails & people love it.

My only problem is convincing my French friends that it really does have a lot of carrot in it.

[oli]

I have my ingredients ready to go and would like to know how many eggs to use. The recipe appears to be 10 units, but I don't know.

Thanks for the recipe suggestion, I have a couple of really good ones that I have gotten from this site when there was a carrot cake bake off some years ago.

This is a recipe I received while on vacation in Costa Rica and it was very good, so I would like to make it.

[Tri2Cook]

"Eggs 10/units" would be 10 eggs. Doesn't sound too unreasonable with the other measurements given.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Tri2Cook (log)

[heidih]

Agreed but I would consider these are "normal" sized eggs and not XL. My go to recipe also whips the whites and folds them in - adds a lovely touch of lightness should you feel like experimenting next time.

[Lisa Shock]

In the US, a normal egg for a recipe is 'Large' and, without the shell, each should weigh 2 oz or 56.7 grams. I don't recall if other countries use different size systems for eggs or not. And yes, 10 eggs would be an appropriate amount for the ratio of other ingredients.

[andiesenji]

That sounds like too many eggs to me.

I have several recipes - the one I use most calls for 200g self-rising whole meal flour and uses 3 eggs/150ml.

Here's the recipe - it makes the best carrot cake I have ever made and I have tried numerous recipes over the past FORTY years since I first came across a recipe in a Pennsylvania Dutch cookbook.

Edited May 20, 2013 by andiesenji (log)

[Tri2Cook]

That sounds like too many eggs to me.

I have several recipes - the one I use most calls for 200g self-rising whole meal flour and uses 3 eggs/150ml.

Your recipe uses...

flour 200 g

carrot 200 g

sugar 150 g

butter 150 g

...for a total of 700 g base ingredients.

The recipe in question uses...

flour 600 g

carrot 500 g

sugar 300 g

butter 500 g

...for a total of 1900 g base ingredients.

Plus they're adding 100 ml of liquid (orange juice) not called for in your recipe. That would put their base at just under 3x your recipe and using just over 3x the amount of egg. A bit heavy but not unreasonable, especially if the egg standard where the recipe originated isn't "large". I haven't tried the recipe but I'm completely confident that 10/units is meant to be 10 eggs.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Tri2Cook (log)

[HungryC]

Tri2's analysis is sound. Go with 10 eggs, but buy a dozen small eggs. You'll only have 2 left over; make egg salad.

[andiesenji]

I'll be interested in the results. I wouldn't use margarine anyway - only butter in my cakes.

[Tri2Cook]

I'll be interested in the results.

Me too. No leavening unless the egg whites get whipped and a high ratio of fat... so it's going to be on the heavy end of the carrot cake spectrum. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I like dense, moist cakes. Hopefully we get a report.

[ChocoMom]

So, Feb. 1 is my Father in Law's 80th birthday, and we're having a party.   He LOVES carrot cake.  He tends to like it moist- usually with some incorporation of nuts and coconut on the icing. I've always made this from scratch before, but the recipe I used burned in the fire, and I don't recall which book it was in..so, I was wondering if any of you fabulous bakers out there might have a favorite recipe you'd be willing to share?   Your help is most appreciated!!! 

Thank you, 

Andrea

[cakewalk]

The Frog Commissary Carrot Cake seems to carry the title of World's Best Carrot Cake: https://athomebysteveposes.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/commissary-carrot-cake-recipe/ I found this out years ago right here on eGullet, of course. There's a thread about it floating around somewhere. I made it once for an occasion and everyone raved about it, that's for sure. It's not my personal favorite only because I prefer a plain old carrot loaf, and I still use the old Moosewood recipe for that (although I use AP flour rather than whole wheat). Congratulations to your father-in-law!

 

Not sure if this will work, but here's the link: 

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by cakewalk
Add link (log)

[rajoress]

Carrot cake seems to be one of those items that everyone likes something different! I have used Martha Stewart's recipe a couple of times with great success. I like the texture and crumb because it's made with butter where most are made with oil.

Best of  luck!

Ruth

[kayb]

Best carrot cake I've ever had in my life is the one from the Silver Palate Cookbook, here. I do find the cream cheese frosting is pretty heavy. I have made it in a tube pan and made a cream cheese glaze.

 

 

[Patrick S]

I haven't tried a great variety of CC recipes, and Ruth is totally right about people having different preferences with this cake. But having said that, my go-to recipe is Cook's Illustrated's "Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting." You can make it in the food processor too, which is handy - use it to shred the carrots, wipe it out, swap blades, and then use it to make the batter. I love the frosting recipe as well. The addition of a small amount of sour cream makes the frosting perfect, IMHO. I usually add the zest of 1 orange to the batter as well.

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-cooks-illustrated-487192

[JeanneCake]

I hope your father in law had a wonderful birthday!

 

I also second the recommendation for the Silver Palate recipe. I make it with a few changes: I use vegetable oil instead of corn oil, make sure the pineapple is well drained, I use chopped pecans instead of walnuts and I've won "best dessert" type contests with the recipe.  Later versions of the recipe cut down the sugar a little but I like the original version best.  It scales up and down easily (I can get a 4x batch to fit in our 20 qt Hobart with a little room to spare).

 

And also from personal experience: don't forget the vanilla, you'll notice it (yes, I was surprised too).  Don't mess up the baking soda (too much or too little or you forget it altogether - I have done all three on separate occasions and you don't want to do that).  Peel the carrots before you cook/puree them (I didn't think this would make that much of a difference but it did and I will never not peel the carrots again).  You can leave out the nuts or the coconut but not both (one of the nice things about this cake is the texture).  Don't leave out the pineapple; while you won't really notice it unless there are huge chunks, you need it for the moisture. This cake really does turn non-believers into believers

[sartoric]

I made this carrot cake http://vst.to/mjmVXml using coconut oil instead of canola.

The cream cheese frosting is a bit runny (lack of enough icing sugar) otherwise it's yummy. 

 

Question please, I used 000 flour because that's what I had. If I used plain flour (AP) as directed might it have been a bit taller ?

 

 

[cakewalk]

sartoric: The carrot cake in the link you gave doesn't look like it rose all that much either. The issue might not be the type of flour used, but the amount. One cup seems like a small amount of flour given the proportions of the other items. I think it's why your cake seems fudgy rather than cakey, and didn't have much of a rise. But it does look good, and if you liked it, here's to another slice!   

[Tri2Cook]

43 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

I think it's why your cake seems fudgy rather than cakey   

Which leaves me very tempted to give the recipe a try. I prefer the more dense and moist cakes over the light, fluffy cakes.