CARROT CAKE RECIPE No 2 ~ by Nan on the All Recipes UK
Carrot Cake Recipe - by Nan on the All Recipes UK website.
I chose this recipe because of all the recipes I've found so far it had the highest amount of carrot in its mix. Most carrot cake recipes have between 200 to 300 grams, this has 650 grams ! I was intrigued to see how that would turn out. The mix has crushed pineapple, as well as sultanas and walnuts, so it really ups the moisture levels. It also has four eggs and bicarb, so, unsurprisingly the binding and rise on this cake look like being substantial. This is not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, dairy free, so this wont be your all inclusive universal carrot cake to suit everyone.
The recipe looked to have enough moisture in it, so I drained the excess juice from the crushed pineapple and the steeped carrot and sugar mix too. The oven temperature of 180 degrees didn't say whether it was fan assisted or not, and was supposed to be for 45-50 minutes, but it ended up being an hour. I had to cover it in foil to avoid it further burning the edges. So a 10-15 degree reduction in the temperature should be easily accommodated.
THE VERDICT
Well, this carrot cake is pretty amazing, with a excellent texture, density and weight. The pineapple contributes to the moisture without it turning the cake into something resembling a layer of peat bog. The sultanas and walnuts are evenly distributed and compliment the carroty flavour, as does the cinnamon, without overwhelming it.
Its clear from this near perfect carrot cake, that what you have in most carrot cake recipes is a cake with carrot flavouring. A carrot cakes that has 200-300 grams of grated carrot in it will always be in danger of having its carroty taste overwhelmed by spices, banana or buttercream topping. So any perfect carrot cake has to have as high a grated carrot quantity as possible.
Any vegan version of a carrot cake, in order to avoid a flat unrisen result, would have to find something to replace the four eggs, which leaves you pretty much with a flour/water paste, banana and bicarb as resources. Another way would be to temper the amount of grated carrot to a degree, and find the right balance of banana and bicarb, to do their business without those downsides I'm all too aware, of becoming a banana cake or leaving that unpleasant dry bicarb aftertaste on the palate.
The creamed cheese topping was one I made for my first carrot cake, which was always a bit on the thin and runny side, so I need to work on stiffening that for the next time. But its flavour is still good, and does exactly what you'd expect most creamed cheese toppings to do, enhancing the cake without extinguishing it.
This carrot cake recipe is going to be hard to beat.
CARROT CAKE RECIPE SCORE ~ 8/8
I chose this recipe because of all the recipes I've found so far it had the highest amount of carrot in its mix. Most carrot cake recipes have between 200 to 300 grams, this has 650 grams ! I was intrigued to see how that would turn out. The mix has crushed pineapple, as well as sultanas and walnuts, so it really ups the moisture levels. It also has four eggs and bicarb, so, unsurprisingly the binding and rise on this cake look like being substantial. This is not going to be, by any stretch of the imagination, dairy free, so this wont be your all inclusive universal carrot cake to suit everyone.
The recipe looked to have enough moisture in it, so I drained the excess juice from the crushed pineapple and the steeped carrot and sugar mix too. The oven temperature of 180 degrees didn't say whether it was fan assisted or not, and was supposed to be for 45-50 minutes, but it ended up being an hour. I had to cover it in foil to avoid it further burning the edges. So a 10-15 degree reduction in the temperature should be easily accommodated.
THE VERDICT
Well, this carrot cake is pretty amazing, with a excellent texture, density and weight. The pineapple contributes to the moisture without it turning the cake into something resembling a layer of peat bog. The sultanas and walnuts are evenly distributed and compliment the carroty flavour, as does the cinnamon, without overwhelming it.
Its clear from this near perfect carrot cake, that what you have in most carrot cake recipes is a cake with carrot flavouring. A carrot cakes that has 200-300 grams of grated carrot in it will always be in danger of having its carroty taste overwhelmed by spices, banana or buttercream topping. So any perfect carrot cake has to have as high a grated carrot quantity as possible.
Any vegan version of a carrot cake, in order to avoid a flat unrisen result, would have to find something to replace the four eggs, which leaves you pretty much with a flour/water paste, banana and bicarb as resources. Another way would be to temper the amount of grated carrot to a degree, and find the right balance of banana and bicarb, to do their business without those downsides I'm all too aware, of becoming a banana cake or leaving that unpleasant dry bicarb aftertaste on the palate.
The creamed cheese topping was one I made for my first carrot cake, which was always a bit on the thin and runny side, so I need to work on stiffening that for the next time. But its flavour is still good, and does exactly what you'd expect most creamed cheese toppings to do, enhancing the cake without extinguishing it.
This carrot cake recipe is going to be hard to beat.
CARROT CAKE RECIPE SCORE ~ 8/8
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