Carrot Cake

Who would have thought that carrot can be the highlight of a cake? The lightly sweet and fresh and moist carrot cake spiced with some ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon frosted with some cloudy and tangy sweet cream cheese frosting will definitely make you say yes. It’s time to celebrate love with a carrot cake.

CARROT CAKE

As one who likes to prepare different dishes for every people I know, it is a challenge to me whenever one is a vegetable hater. Like… why? But of course, we cannot force one to love something. #Hugot I have a lot of successful vegetable-hiding dishes which I usually serve to my picky eater nieces and nephews. The moment I knew that one of my tropas doesn’t eat carrots for no reason, I immediately thought of taking this as a challenge to try to make him feed some carrots.

For his birthday, I decided to introduce him to carrot cake. Of course he doesn’t know that it is made of carrots. I jokingly told him it was banana cake. And yes, my dear readers, mission is accomplished. I later revealed that it was a carrot cake. He still don’t eat carrots up to now unless it’s on a carrot cake.

Carrot cake is a typical easter cake in some places. Here in the Philippines, carrot cake is more like a birthday cake. This cake may be considered a good choice if you want to enjoy some sweet cake but also add vegetables to your food. Aside from just sweetness, this cake also offers nutrients from the carrots.

If you’re interested in making a carrot cake for someone you love, follow the recipes below and share your experience.

HOW TO MAKE CARROT CAKE

The two major parts on making a carrot cake is the cake and the frosting. The cake is very easy and quick to make. Start by choosing your carrots. It is recommended to use fresh carrots instead of buying packed ones. Remove the skin as it can give an unpleasant bitter taste. Grating the carrots will always give you the best texture when compared to crushing them using a food processor. You wouldn’t want some carrot chunks in your cake. To make the cake batter, start by combining the wet and dry ingredients separately. Do not worry on the spices you are gonna put on the batter since they are not overpowering. What makes carrot cakes moist and dense at the same time is by using oil instead of butter. Choose a mildly-flavoured one so it won’t affect the overall taste of the cake. When combining the two mixtures together, fold the batter to incorporate more air. When the batter is ready, bake the cake just like how you bake a regular cake. Split the baked cake horizontally into two so we can sandwich the frosting for later.

Some people I know loved the frosting more than the carrot cake. The frosting will give the cake’s first impression. With all the pressure of making it the best frosting ever existed, making a frosting is actually easy. Start by whisking your cream cheese to make if fluffy. The next steps would involve adding the rest of the ingredients and whisking the frosting until soft peaks. Chilled frosting always give a nice mouthfeel.

The last step is to assemble your cake. Make a frosting sandwich using the two layers of your cake. Frost the whole cake and decorate it how you like. I like mine with a lot of pecans. The carrot cake is basically done. I recommend you to chill your cake before serving for the frosting to harden. If you make the carrot cake days before you want to serve it, the flavor will intensify and the frosting will seep into the layers of the cake giving you a heavenly bite.

Paano Magluto ng Carrot Cake (TAGALOG)

MGA SANGKAP:

Para sa cake:

• 2 tasa ng harina
• 1 kutsarita ng baking soda
• 1 kutsarita ng asin
• 2 kutsarita ng cinnamon powder
• ½ kutsarita ng nutmeg (optional)
• 1 kutsarita ng ginger powder
• 1 tasa ng mantika
• ¾ tasa ng asukal na puti
• ½ tasa ng asukal na pula
• 3 malalaking itlog
• 2 ½ tasa ng carrots (grated)
• 1 tasa ng pecans (hiniwa)

Para sa frosting:

• 2 tasa ng cream cheese
• ½ tasa ng all purpose cream
• 1 ½ tasa ng powdered sugar
• extra pecans (pang-toppings)

PAANO LUTUIN:

Para sa cake:

1. Sa isang malaking bowl, paghaluin ang harina, baking soda, asin, cinnamon powder, nutmeg at ginger powder. Haluin ng mabuti.
2. Sa isa pang bowl, paghaluin ang mantika at ang asukal na pula at puti. Haluin ng mabuti. Ilagay ang itlog ng paisa-isa. Ilagay ang kalahati ng dry mixture at i-fold gamit ang spatula. Ilagay ang natitirang dry mixture at i-fold hanggang mahalo ng mabuti.
3. Ilagay ang carrots at pecans. I-fold ang cake batter hanggang mahalo ng mabuti.
4. Ihanda ang round pan at lagyan ng parchment paper. Ibrush ang sides ng mantika. Ilagay ang cake batter at i-tap ng tatlong beses para matanggal ang air bubbles.
5. I-bake ang cake sa isang preheated oven ng 40 hanggang 45 minuto gamit ang 360F o 180C.
6. Gawin ang toothpick test para ma-check kung luto na ang loob ng cake. Kapag hindi pa, takpan ito ng aluminum foil at i-bake ng 10 hanggang 15 minuto.
7. Palamigin ang cake sa room temperature.
8. Baliktarin ang cake at tanggalin ang parchment paper.
9. Hiwain ang cake ng pahalang sa dalawang parts at palamigin.

Para sa frosting:

1. Ilagay ang cream cheese sa isang bowl at i-whisk hanggang maging fluffy.
2. Ilagay ang all purpose cream at haluin ng mabuti. Ilagay ang powdered sugar at haluin.
3. I-whisk ang mixture hanggang maging soft peaks.
4. Palamigin ang frosting ng 15 hanggang 30 minuto.

Assembling the carrot cake:

1. Ilagay ang bottom cake layer sa isang flat na pinggan at ispread ang frosting.
2. Ilagay ang top cake layer at lagyan ng frosting ang buong cake.
3. Palamigin ang cake para tumigas ang frosting (optional).
4. Maglagay ng frosting at extra pecans bago ihain ang carrot cake.
5. I-slice sa serving pieces at enjoy!