World's best carrot-cake recipe

[I82Much]

I made half of the Commisary Carrot Cake in an 8" round. Frosted with the frosting (with 1/2 cup less powdered sugar) and it's EXCELLENT. Omitted the raisins and nuts but will put them back in for the final product.

[Ling]

I'm quite sure you split the bundt cake and spread the filling in between the layers.

[mkfradin]

Yes, I remember eating it in the 70s and it looked like a frosted Cake with a hole in the middle.

If you filled up the middle with all that goo--shudder--I think you'd probably go into insulin shock. It's the definition of too much of a good thing.

Marjorie

Nostalgic aside: my parents took my sixth grade friends and me to the commissary for my birthday dinner, and afterwards we had to go to McDonalds to get something to eat (this was after seeing Rocky or Star Wars, I forget which). How times change!!

[I82Much]

I've got both rounds made, going to be making the icing later and chilling it before use tomorrow.

Going to omit the pecan filling, but I did add back in the raisins and chopped pecans.

[CaliPoutine]

I've tried about twenty recipes for carrot cake in the last two years. My favourite is from Southern Living. The buttermilk glaze between the layers just adds something really special to a great cake.

http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/...8005/1/1/1.html

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I entered this cake in our county fair last year. I took 3rd place only because the judges didnt like the orange in the frosting. Its a very "different" kind of carrot cake. Very dense and there is a lot of stuff going on here. A friend of mine gave me the recipe years ago and she called it Blue Ribbon Carrot cake. I lost it and did a web search for it and I found it online in the Portland Junior League cookbook.

[Patrick S]

I've never been wild about carrot cake, but my wife recently requested one, so I made the one from Cooks Illustrated. Its pretty good, and I think the recipe might make a good base for a spice cake. I used slightly less carrot than the recipe called for --about 12ozs rather than 16. I was afraid the cake would be overly carroty, but it isn't. My daughter can't get enough of the cream cheese icing either.

NOTE: Wendy or Neil, if you think these two pics are too large to embed in the thread, let me know and I'll shrink them. They are about 45kb each. I wanted to use larger pics to better show the structure of the cake.

[CanadianBakin']

Patrick - I tried that recipe a while ago and I wasn't impressed, neither were my tasters. I guess it depends what you are looking for in a carrot cake. We all preferred one that had pineapple in it as well. And a cream cheese icing flavoured with orange zest is a must for us.

[JSkilling]

Purty pics! The oil in that recipe must be minimal since the cake looks fairly light. I agree with CB - pineapple is a must and orange zest in the frosting! This is one of those cakes where the more glopped up the better.

[sarah o]

I agree with CB on the CI recipe, made it also and it was not very exciting.

Like it more goopy too!

But Patrick sure makes his look awesome.

[Patrick S]

Purty pics!  The oil in that recipe must be minimal since the cake looks fairly light.

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Actually, there's a cup and a half of oil in the cake. However the oil is emulsified with the eggs and sugar in a food processor, and I think that somehow that makes the cake seem lighter. I haven't tried any other recipe, so I don't have anything to compare this one to. Like I said, I don't really care for carrot cake. When the next blue moon comes around, I'll try that Frog Commissary cake.

[Swisskaese]

I am going to be making "The Ultimate Carrot Cake with Mascarpone, Fromage Frais and Cinnamon Icing" on Friday. I will post pics when I am finished.

[Patrick S]

I tried the Frog Comissary cake recipe linked to earlier in the thread. Instead of the pecan cream filling in the middle, I just used more of the cream cheese icing. I also included raisins and a little crushed pineapple. This one is definitely moist and heavy, and I like it quite a bit.

[oli]

Can this cake be made without using the "10" tube cake pan, just a regular cake pan?

[joshalow]

Here's the recipe that has been in my family for a while- have no idea where it came from. It is a very moist cake. Most brides like it because it has no raisins or nuts in it. It's quite simple to make-not as many spices in it, etc.

1 and 1/2 c sifted all purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Sift all of these ingredients together. Add:

2/3 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 c finely shredded carrot

1/2 c crushed pineapple (with syrup)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix til moistened, and then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.

Bake in a 9x9x2 in. pan at 350 for about 35 min.

The cake is great fresh, but is also great after freezing it- very moist.

[Patrick S]

Can this cake be made without using the "10" tube cake pan, just a regular cake pan?

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Sure. There's no reason why you couldn't use a 13x9, or a couple of 9" rounds. Just adjust your cooking time accordingly.

[chantal]

Hi everybody,

I am a egullet newbie, this is my first post. Thought I'd throw this recipe into the mix. This cake was the National Carrot Advisory Board Winner for first prize-- it was the best of 3,500 recipes submitted for carrot cake. Whenever I make it it gets lots of oohs and ahhs... http://members.tripod.com/cakerecipes/id33.htm.

It does have a whopping 1 1/2 cups of oil in the batter but what the hell. I have yet to make the filling because there is just enough frosting to put in between the two 9'' layers I bake it in. I'll compare it against the Frog Commisary recipe around Easter and I'll give you my humble opinion.

Chantal

[Patrick S]

Welcome, Chantal!

[Swisskaese]

I just found another interesting carrot cake recipe that I am going to have to try. I will have to make it without the coconut because my fiance hates dessicated coconut.

BTW - Wholemeal flour is what Americans call wholewheat.

The Ultimate Carrot Cake with Marscarpone, Fromage Frais and Cinnamon Icing

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I made this cake yesterday and brought to a Bar Mitzvah. It was a huge hit. I used white self-raising flour instead of wholewheat and left out the coconut. It was moist and not too sweet.

Sorry, but I couldn't take any pictures.

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome to The eGullet Society for Arts & Letters Chantal! I love to try recipes like that, that have already gone thru alot of testing and competitions and won. I'll definately give it a try asap. Thanks for posting!

[chantal]

Welcome to The eGullet Society for Arts & Letters Chantal! I love to try recipes like that, that have already gone thru alot of testing and competitions and won. I'll definately give it a try asap. Thanks for posting!

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Thanks for your warm welcome Wendy and Patrick,

Just getting back after a little surgury (liver stones) and moving around again. .. Looking forward to seeing what some of you might make for Easter. Anybody ever made the ultimate sticky bun recipe from Cook's Illustrated? Thinking about possible hot cross buns. I think I want to make the Pullah (Scandanavian egg braid) from Baking with Julia, it's just amazing and there is this recipe in this month's Food and wine for French toast...peanut butter between two slices of brioche then dipped in egg and imbedded with cornfalkes then served with starwberries and maple syrup Maybe I could make that with the leftover Pullah.

Chantal

[Ling]

I just made the Frog Commisionary carrot cake. It's very good, but I changed a few things.

I cut the sugar by 3 tbsp. when I was making the pecan filling, but it still ended up being way too sweet for me. I had to add an additional 1/4 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of cream, and re-cook it. Also, I got lots of flour lumps when I followed the directions by adding the cream to the flour--wouldn't it have turned out better by cooking the butter, sugar and flour together, and then adding the cream (like a bechamel?)

Anyway, I had to strain the filling to get rid of the flour lumps, and when I added the extra butter, I dissolved some cornstarch in the cream and added that to the filling.

This is how I would do the filling next time:

1. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup butter to saucepan, heat until butter melts.

2. Dissolve 2 tbsp. of cornstarch into a few tablespoons of cream, stir, and then add more cream for a total of 1 1/2 cup.

3. Cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool.

4. Stir in 2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

I also used less icing sugar than called for in the cream cheese frosting. I used a total of 2 1/2 cups, and also added about 2 tbsp. of orange juice. I also prefer a 2:1 ratio of cream cheese to butter, instead of 1:1 like the recipe calls for.

I also baked the cakes in three 8" round pans.

Thanks for this recipe--I will certainly use it again. I like this cake better than the Southern Living one.

Edited June 18, 2005 by Ling (log)

[CanadianBakin']

Ling - Thanks for your review with revisions. I really liked the Southern Living one, with and without the buttermilk glaze but since you liked the Commisionary one better I'll give it a try. So many people mentioned how sweet it is which is why I haven't tried it but I'll follow your instructions and see how it goes. Might be a couple weeks but I'll let you know what I think.

[Ling]

^You're welcome! I had 3 pieces last night, and another 2 pieces this morning. I think it's safe to say that I like the cake a lot.

There's only one piece left!

[MightyD]

a few years ago, a cook's illustrated magazine advocated the sugaring and squeezing of grated carrots to remove excess moisture in carrot cake baking.

is it really worth the time and effort to do this? i do find my carrot cakes a bit soggy after a day or two due to all the moisture from the carrots - or is my recipe just too heavy on the carrots?

[ScorchedPalate]

Hmm, the Cook's Illustrated recipe I use for carrot cake -- from Baking Illustrated and also found on their site [subscription required] -- doesn't call for this step. And the cake gets rave reviews every time I make it, even from people who say they don't usually like carrot cake.

I suspect your recipe might have a higher sugar content (sugar is hygroscopic -- attracts moisture) in addition to a bit more carrots than necessary. I do wish recipes would specify weight and volume for items that naturally vary in size; 3 older, smallish carrots could easily be less than half the weight of 3 fresh, largish ones.

There's a peach cobbler recipe of theirs that does ask you to sugar the peaches, drain-and-save the resulting liquid, and add a measured amount back to the peaches ...to account for the differences in peach ripeness and moisture, I recall.