In Which Barbarians Make Cake
Carrots are in season, so when we ordered a box of organic produce (and eggs, and milk, and grass-fed beef) from this local delivery service, one of the items it contained was a huge, beautiful bunch of them. We cooked with a few, but I knew we wouldn’t go through them all in time unless we bit the bullet and aimed big.
Ergo, carrot cake.
I made the cake this evening while Ross was putting together a new shelving unit in his office, constructed out of 20 small cinderblocks and three long pieces of pine. It’s pretty great—the lower two shelves are for books, and a row of plants goes on the top. Also, it frees up some space in that room and makes it feel much less cluttered. We’re going to have to get rid of two pieces of furniture as a result: one folding bookcase, and this table. Anyone in the Chicago area want to buy either?
Back to the cake. It turned out beautifully, which is to say that it (along with the slightly lemony cream cheese frosting I made for it) tasted wonderful. Moist and yummy but not too sweet. Unfortunately, given that
a) it kind of broke while I was turning it out of the glass dish I made it in, and
b) we aren’t exactly skilled in the art of frosting,
the cake did not look like this. Instead, it ended up having the sort of face only a mother could love. Or, as Ross put it (while frosting), “I’m going to keep working on this for a while, so it doesn’t look so much like a cake that barbarians made.”
I don’t know. We’ve got pretty refined palates, for barbarians.
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:25 am
Yes, that’s definitely the image I have of you and Ross: ham-handed barbarians. I’m eating a muffin, and I wish it had lemon cream cheese frosting on it.
Thank you for telling me about Fresh Picks! It’s perfect b/c a whole csa share is too much produce for me. I placed a small order this week, just to test it out.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Can we have the recipe of this barbarian cake?
October 24th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Ooh. I know someone who’s going to receive an offset spatula for the holidays this year!
Flavor is the most important part–congrats!
October 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Germana, the recipe follows — I didn’t use allspice, and I added about a tablespoon of lemon juice to the frosting.
Sarah, how about a springform pan instead? ;-)
Megan, I hope you have a good Fresh Picks experience. They seem like an awesome company. We received a red pepper that looked beautiful but had a patch of mold inside it when we cut it open, and when I emailed them about it they issued us a credit (although we ate the non-moldy part anyway. Heh.).
CARROT CAKE RECIPE
Unsalted butter, for the pan
12 ounces, (or about 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour), plus more for the pan
12 ounces grated carrots, medium grate, (about 6 medium carrots)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 ounces sugar, (about 1 1/3 cups)
2 ounces dark brown sugar, (about 1/4 cup firmly packed)
3 large eggs
6 ounces plain yogurt
6 ounces vegetable oil
Cream Cheese Frosting, (recipe follows)
Directions: Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
Butter and floour a 9 inch round and 3 inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for five seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well coated with the flour.
In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs and yogurt.
With the processor still running, drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F. in the center. (NOTE: I relied on the toothpick test–inserting a wooden toothpick and seeing that it came out dry.)
Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 ounces powdered sugar, sifted, about 2 cups
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in four batches and beat until smooth between each addition.
Place the frosting in the refrigerator 5 to 10 minutes before using.
Yield: about 2 cups frosting.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Thanks lady… just got back from the mountains and bought a bunch of carrots hoping you sent me the recipe. You rock!
October 26th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Oh! I forgot to say that I added one extra egg, because mine seemed small (but I bet Italian eggs are happy and huge ;-)) and I didn’t use nearly 2 cups worth of powdered sugar in the frosting, because that seemed like too much. You can taste as you go along though to be sure.
Happy baking!