Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese FrostingAt the library where I work, everyone knows I'm trying to learn to bake...they get to taste the trials. This new book came in and they told me about it: Williams-Sonoma Mastering: Cakes, Frostings & Fillings.
I made the Carrot Cake (page 70) and it turned out delicious! Wow. I tried carrot cake once before and that was a disaster.
This book is really fantastic. I'm going to try to make many more of the cakes. The book has lots of photos with step-by-step instructions. My favorite part is that they indicate how many minutes you should be mixing, blending and pouring. For instance, "slowly pour the oil in the mixture, 1 minute" or "mix on medium-high speed until light, about 2-3 minutes." It is difficult for a new cook to know when to stop when the instructions say, "Mix well."
The only problem is that it took about 12 minutes longer to cook than indicated. I did use my Even-Bake strips, so I don't know if that slowed the baking. I was stressing as I kept opening the oven to insert toothpicks. I think I went through about 10 toothpicks! But, luckily, everything worked out!
The carrot cake has finely grated carrots (that is very important to not have the cake very fiber-y), crushed pineapple, and the usual stuff. I used those sweet Nantes carrots from Trader Joe's (I had someone grate them for me) and I'm sure that added a touch of sweetness. The frosting was lots of good-for-you cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and a pound (about 4 cups) of powdered sugar. Yum.
One co-worker strolled into the office and said, "I heard you are giving out vitamins today...you know, vitamin A in the carrots." Yes, this is health food.
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2 comments:
Another superb dish...yum, yum!
Hi Mary, I don't know what happened. I thought I asked you to "borrow" your link and picture the other night when I was here. Okay, so I was a bit tired but oh my how could I miss such a thing of beauty. Thank you so much for sharing...I'd really love to add it to the Carrot Cake Day post:)
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