Carrot Cake not Carrot Top

"I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond."
Mae West

Jan 3, according to my Facebook pastry friends, was Carrot Cake Day. It occurred to me i did not have a recipe that i loved. Sooo i began surfing ....

First, I needed a history lesson...why stay ignorant?

"Carrot cake is a confectionery conundrum: it seems you either love it, or you hate it. But either way, there's no denying the appeal of this rich dessert throughout history. Food historians tell us that the origins of carrot cake were likely a type of carrot pudding enjoyed during medieval times. Later, during the Middle Ages, sweetening agents were hard to come by in Britain and quite expensive, so as a result, carrots were often used in place of sweeteners. Interestingly, despite being such a longstanding mainstay in Europe, American cookbooks didn't start listing carrot cake recipes until the early 1900s. And, it was actually in the 1960s before carrot cake began becoming a more common cake in the United States, soon becoming the dessert of choice at summer family reunions picnics and Mothers Day celebrations.

Most all carrot cake recipes have a core group of ingredients in common, which are flour, sugar, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, salt), baking soda/powder, butter or oil, nuts, and of course carrots. More adventurous bakers have branched out to embrace some rather exotic carrot cake recipes, which feature such ingredients as:

• Pumpkin

• Coconut

• Pureed figs or prunes

• Chocolate chips

• Oranges

• Zucchini

• Crystallized ginger

• Beetroot

• Mashed sweet potatoes

• Papaya

In terms of carrot cake frostings, some people still prefer their carrot cake plain, although you will still see a lot of recipes for the traditional cream-cheese frosting. However, other carrot cake toppings that are delicious can be fondant icing (like on a wedding cake), Greek yogurt, lightly sweetened, buttermilk glaze with a zest of lemon, Royal icing, and chocolate icing.

• The amount of carrots you put into a carrot cake recipe will affect both the texture and taste of the cake.

• Using pureed carrots as opposed to shredding raw carrots will give your carrot cake a much more moist consistency.

• Use oil instead of butter - it will be MUCH moister than if you used butter.

• Use the zest of one orange in the batter for a zippier consistency.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Candis_Reade

Your head spinning yet?

Then the hunt for the best carrot cake i could find! OOOPS!..I Googled, and 14 recipes appeared. That was only the first page, not including the 10 pages of " The best carrot cakes in the world""

Here are a few links..

http://www.squidoo.com/carrotcake#module12308759

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-carrot-cake-ever/detail.aspx

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,176,152170-253193,00.html

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=257583

http://www.grouprecipes.com/92629/best-ever-carrot-cake.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dweezil-lisa/three-layer-carrot-cake-recipe/index.html

http://www.thetuscanhousewife.com/in_the_kitchen/the_best_carrot_cake_in_the_wh/

http://www.nibbledish.com/people/MamaBear/recipes/best-ever-carrot-cake


Who new the multiple variations i would find ?..from nuts, spices, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and prunes. The only similarity was of course, carrots.

SOOO i baked one recipe today. It is delicious, but the best?? Seems silly to make that claim since everyone else does too..The little boy who cried carrot cake, i mean wolf..you get the idea.

And speaking of interesting/insane ideas? Change my blog to Carrot Cake Quest...and bake a different recipe every week...HMMMMMMM