For Goodness Bakes: A Guide to All Things Carrot Cake
Carrot cake. It’s one of the most divisive pastries. Why? For starters, people think it’s healthy when, as I hate to admit, it’s not. Those carrots don’t balance out all the sugar, but life is short so I say eat away! However, I think the biggest dividing line for carrot cake is caused not because people either love or hate it, but because people either love or hate it on an individual basis, and that makes it different than virtually every other dessert. Other cake flavors tend to be uniform in their execution and delivery, so you generally know what you’re getting. A yellow cake from the store will probably taste similar to a box mix or homemade cake. The same can be said for chocolate, red velvet, lemon, etc… but when it comes to carrot cake, it’s a much different story. Carrot cakes can differ not only from one baker to another, but from box mixes and even grocery stores. One brand tastes totally different than another, and has different toppings and even frosting. What gives?! Unfortunately, the problem lies in one simple factor: people just don’t kow what classic carrot cake is, let alone how to execute it.
Time for a baker's confession= I only ever eat store bought carrot cake. Call me a traitor and sac-religious, but I and my entire family will only eat carrot cake from Albertsons (or Safeway if you live outside NM). We’ve always found that, whether homemade or from other grocery stores, carrot cakes tend to be too wet or too dry. Never enough carrots or add ins, and usually way too many spices including some that shouldn’t be in carrot cake at all. And don’t get me started on the cream cheese icing. So whenever a birthday or holiday rolled around, if we didn’t make a chocolate cake, we’d always buy an Albertsons carrot cake. That is, until recently.
As orders started rolling into my business, I had clients asking for carrot cake and tbh, I panicked. “I don’t even eat carrot cake from scratch! I can bake anything else...but not this!”. But in my business I’ve always been dedicated to baking everything from scratch, so I went ahead and started experimenting. Thus the BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had was born!
It was hard to get a baseline for what carrot cake should and shouldn’t include since they'res so many variations on the market today (I mean, that IS the problem after all!). So I decided to scour some older recipes I found for ideas, and ask the legendary bakers I knew what they thought carrot cake should be. The consensus was clear and unsurprising: everything I loved about my store bought carrot cake! Turns out I was eating what most would consider ‘classic’ carrot cake the whole time. But now I had to figure out how to make it from scratch (cue scary music in 3,2,1...).
I swallowed some fear and searched for a recipe that would include the most four crucial aspects of what classic carrot cake should have based upon what I had researched and of course my own preferences: a moist crumb, the right mix ins, delicate spices, and a great cream cheese icing. Each of these elements will either make or break your carrot cake. After much tweaking and adjusting of the best base recipe I could find, I finally achieved my goal of carrot cake perfection. The bad news is, I'm now fiercely protective of this recipe folks, so I won’t be sharing it today. But I will tell you exactly what to look for and experiment with so you can start baking in your own kitchen with confidence.
1) Moisture
Everyone expects a carrot cake to be exceptionally moist. Unlike other cakes that are butter based, a carrot cake should be oil based and mostly use vegetable or olive oil. I prefer a cake that still uses some butter, but has at least a 1:1 ratio of butter to oil (equal measurements of both), but even 2:1 works well (twice as much oil as butter). Olive oil will give you a richer flavor, but does risk throwing off the delicate balance of the cake, so my go-to is vegetable oil. Do not even consider a recipe that calls for less or even no liquid oil in the batter- the result will be dry and dense, which is not what you want to find in a carrot cake.
2) Mix-ins
Carrot cake should include shredded carrot (obviously), but beyond that there seems to be massive confusion. You might find grandma threw in zucchini, or your local bakery tossed in almonds. While you’re free to experiment as you wish and have fun in your kitchen, take it from me: the best carrot is uniform, and should always include carrots, raisins, and walnuts. Not the most exciting or en-vogue recipe, I know, but once you deviate from these 3 simple ingredients, you can go from great carrot cake to a weird version of a breakfast muffin in no time. When looking for a recipe or making your own, I suggest ensuring a 4:1:1 ratio ( 4 times as much carrot as raisins and chopped walnuts). You can certainly adjust this ratio as you wish, and personally, I always add in more raisins and walnuts if making a cake for myself because why not? But if you start out with this ratio and stick to it, you'll ensure your guests are happy with the result of the cake and no one is picking out raisins or crunching on too many nuts . I also suggest covering the sides of your carrot cake with chopped walnuys, as it’s not only super easy to decorate, but is really a show stopper for everyone expecting a classic carrot cake.
3) Spices
Even if you have the right texture, if you include way too many spices in your cake (as is often the case with box mixes or store bought cakes), it tastes like you’re eating carrot gingerbread or an autumn spice cake, not a good carrot cake. So if you see ginger, cardamom, or cumin in a recipe, do not use it! The best carrot cake only includes cinnamon and nutmeg. Even then, you want to ensure the nutmeg is used minimally so as to not overpower the cinnamon. Even though it’s not really a spice, I also suggest using a recipe that mostly uses brown sugar. It can include white sugar (as mine does), but that classic molasses taste will only come from brown sugar. Some recipes may actually call for molasses, but it will throw off your cake's consistency, so stick with light or dark brown sugar as the bulk of your sweetener.
4) Icing
You have to have a creamy, tangy, lightly sweetened cream cheese icing. Period. Yes, I’ve had clients request buttercream or vanilla icing on carrot cake and have obliged, because I’m a people pleaser. But I’m telling you, stick with cream cheese icing only if you want the best results for your carrot cake. To be honest, this is one of the few times I find it acceptable to use a canned icing if you go with Betty Crocker brand. Other brands just taste downright weird, but if you don’t have the time or energy to make your own, for $1.50 I’d say it’s a good investment to go with a can of cream cheese icing. If you do decide to make your own, however, be sure to find a recipe that doesn’t have loads of powdered sugar. Every icing will of course use powdered sugar as it’s sweetener, but most recipes tend to use so much it eliminates the cream cheese flavor and tang. I suggest using only ½ the sugar any recipe calls for, then adding in lemon juice and white vinegar to up the tang flavor. You can always add in more sugar after its finished and you taste it. Be sure to only use full fat cream cheese, and don’t use milk to moisten the icing even if a recipe calls for it- use more cream cheese, butter, or lemon juice. Milk will dull your flavoring and create a super thin icing. Also try to avoid vanilla as well until the very end, where you can taste your icing and see if it maybe needs it, though it often doesn’t. Also be sure to never use a recipe that calls for vegetable shortening or cream cheese flavoring- they just tastes downright unpleasant. The biggest issue to avoid with homemade cream cheese icing is having it taste like a sweet vanilla icing, which does not make for a classic carrot cake.
So if you follow all of these guidelines how will your cake turn out? Well, my classic carrot cake has the best spice blend, the perfect amount of walnuts, raisins, and carrot, and is brought together with a balanced texture that’s moist but not dense, the way a carrot cake ought to be. It was so good I’ve now converted my family to made-from-scratch carrot cake= something none of us ever thought we’d live to see! And yes, we’ve all had to admit- it is better than Albertsons cake. It is similar in terms of the flavor profile, and praise God for that since their's was always so good. But as someone who used to work in a grocery store bakery, I can say this: the process of mass producing cakes negatively affects the quality. You’ll find the carrot cake is moist but becomes soggy after a few days, the icing can become overly sweet and even sour, and there’s always a ting of chemical/preservative flavor in the cake. They’re always kept frozen until used, so It can be weeks if not months from the time the cakes are baked until they reach your shopping cart. So take it from me: you want to order a fresh baked cake from TCLSF or make your own!
Call 505-303-0686 or email thatcakeladysf@gmail.com today to get your hands on this delicious cake for your next party, holiday, or dinner. Remember, if you can dream it, I can bake it!
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