A carrot cake is nothing other than a sponge cake, whose main ingredient is carrots. The preparation is that of a sponge cake and, as such, it has several tricks and variations to make it more fluffy, dry or wet. It is a typical European recipe, with slight variations in the English or German-style and is so famous that it has its world day, which is February 3, but despite its fame, it is easy to prepare.
You can add fruit, such as banana, pineapple or apple, also nuts such as walnuts, raisins or almonds, and it can even be finished with a delicious topping, usually with cream cheese or chocolate, and give personal touches to the taste of who is going to taste it. The important thing is that the cake is juicy without being heavy.
Here, we will explain how to make a carrot cake according to the classic recipe, with indications of its possible variants and how they prepare the most famous in the world, the carrot cake from The Buttercup Bake Shop in New York.
How to make a carrot cake?
Ingredients:
- 4 medium carrots
- 2 glasses or 300 g of flour
- 1 sachet of yeast
- 2 cups or 300g sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3 large or 4 medium eggs
- 150 g of butter or 1 glass or 200 ml of oil
- 1 natural yogurt
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 250 g of mascarpone cheese
- 3 tablespoons of liquid cream
- Powdered sugar
- Walnuts to taste
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Peel, wash and chop or grate the carrots with a grater, mixer or food processor and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, preferably with a whisk, and add the ingredients while stirring. Start by adding the melted butter or oil (you can use sunflower oil, olive oil or both half and a half) and continue stirring to mix well.
- Add the sugar and salt little by a little while stirring (you can use white sugar, brown sugar or mix them half and a half) and beat until smooth.
- Yogurt is a trick to make the carrot cake tastier. Use a natural yogurt without added sugar, but you can use vanilla yogurt instead of incorporating vanilla essence if you like vanilla. Add the whole yogurt to the bowl while continuing to stir.
- To make a fluffier carrot cake, you just have to add a teaspoon of baking soda and stir.
- Now add the finely chopped carrots and stir all the mixture from the cake batter again.
- Add the flour, the yeast, preferably passing them through a sieve or strainer to prevent lumps from forming, and the cinnamon and stir until all the ingredients are perfectly mixed. If you want to add some other spice, like nutmeg, ginger or any other ingredient, like fruits, nuts or even seeds, you will also have to do it now.
- Choose a mold. It can be round or rectangular. Brush it with oil and sprinkle a little flour to prevent the carrot cake from sticking. Another option to prevent it from sticking in the mold is to use greaseproof paper. Once this is prepared, pour the mixture and place it in the already hot oven.
- Bake the cake batter for 30 minutes, but a maximum of 40 minutes. The time may vary depending on your choices regarding oil, sugar, etc. To know that the cake is ready, just prick it with something, such as a fork, the tip of a knife, a skewer rod or a toothpick, and if it is clean, it means that it is already done. On the contrary, if it is stained, it still has a while to cook in the oven.
- Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool before unmolding and serving. It is usually left like this for breakfasts and snacks, but if it does not have cream or similar coverage, it is also common to sprinkle a little icing sugar on top.
Tips
If you make the carrot cake in the English style, they usually divide the cake into two or three layers and use the topping as a filling as well, so you will have to multiply the number of ingredients to make the topping by as many layers as you put.
If you make the German-style carrot cake, use a variety of nuts, berries, and seeds.
To make a light carrot cake, it is better to use sunflower oil alone, without mixing the olive oil.
