Carrot Cake
(from Tom Hudgens, author of The Commonsense Kitchen)
for the cake:
1 ½ cups walnut halves and pieces
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups safflower or other vegetable oil
1 ½ cups firmly-packed brown sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon finely-grated orange zest
about 4 cups peeled, thickly sliced carrots
for the frosting:
1 pound cold cream cheese
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Butter two 9-inch cake pans; fit the bottoms of the pans with circles of parchment; butter the parchment, then lightly dust the pan with flour, tapping the pan to remove excess flour. (at first I thought this meant butter both the pan and the parchment. It doesn't. Just butter the parchment, or there's waaay too much oil on the bottom)
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Scatter the walnuts on a baking sheet, and toast lightly in the oven, about 8 minutes, or until they are fragrant; the nuts should not visibly darken. Let the nuts cool, then lightly rub off the excess outer papery skin from the nuts. Keep the oven at 325 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth.
Using a food processor, pulse the toasted walnuts to a fine meal (if you're like me and don't particularly like nuts, just pulverize those suckers. you won't taste them, I promise!). Add the nuts to the large bowl with the oil mixture.
Put the peeled, sliced carrots into the bowl of the food processor, and process until the carrots are reduced to a uniform, fine mince. Measure out 3 ½ cups of ground carrots, and add to the large bowl with the wet ingredients and nuts.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, without overmixing, just until the batter is uniform.
Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pans (weigh the filled pans to ensure even distribution), place in the center of the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes (it took us about 45 minutes, but our oven runs cold. Just be prepared that it may take longer), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn the cakes out onto a rack. Peel off the parchment, and let the cakes cool completely before frosting. (IMPORTANT! The 10-minute waiting period is COMPLETE crap. I waited 10 minutes to the second, and it was an utter disaster when I tried to remove the first layer. Rather than one lovely layer, I had three different pieces! Definitely let your cake cool all the way before you remove it from the pans. As I said to my mother as I mixed up another layer, THIS is why I buy extra of all the ingredients! [if it was just my family, I would've iced the pieces back together and called it good, but this was for company])
To make the frosting, put the cold cream cheese into a medium bowl. Using a wooden spoon, work the lemon zest, juice, and vanilla into the cheese until uniform, then add the sifted sugar in 2 or 3 additions, stirring the frosting until smooth. (Wooden spoon, my foot! I used a hand-held mixer, and it came together super easily. You're already making your own frosting. Don't make it any more difficult than it has to be!)
To frost the cake, put a dab of frosting in the center of a large, attractive plate. Center one of the cake rounds on the plate, and apply an even layer of frosting to the top. Place the second cake round atop the first, and apply an even layer of frosting to the top. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake. Cream cheese makes a soft frosting that doesn’t lend itself to squiggles or other decorative elements; it is beautiful on its own, just smoothly spread on the cake, with a thread of lemon zest visible here and there. Chill if you’re not serving the cake right away. Let the cake come back up to room temperature to serve.
1 ½ cups walnut halves and pieces
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups safflower or other vegetable oil
1 ½ cups firmly-packed brown sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon finely-grated orange zest
about 4 cups peeled, thickly sliced carrots
for the frosting:
1 pound cold cream cheese
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Butter two 9-inch cake pans; fit the bottoms of the pans with circles of parchment; butter the parchment, then lightly dust the pan with flour, tapping the pan to remove excess flour. (at first I thought this meant butter both the pan and the parchment. It doesn't. Just butter the parchment, or there's waaay too much oil on the bottom)
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Scatter the walnuts on a baking sheet, and toast lightly in the oven, about 8 minutes, or until they are fragrant; the nuts should not visibly darken. Let the nuts cool, then lightly rub off the excess outer papery skin from the nuts. Keep the oven at 325 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth.
Using a food processor, pulse the toasted walnuts to a fine meal (if you're like me and don't particularly like nuts, just pulverize those suckers. you won't taste them, I promise!). Add the nuts to the large bowl with the oil mixture.
Put the peeled, sliced carrots into the bowl of the food processor, and process until the carrots are reduced to a uniform, fine mince. Measure out 3 ½ cups of ground carrots, and add to the large bowl with the wet ingredients and nuts.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, without overmixing, just until the batter is uniform.
Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pans (weigh the filled pans to ensure even distribution), place in the center of the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes (it took us about 45 minutes, but our oven runs cold. Just be prepared that it may take longer), or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn the cakes out onto a rack. Peel off the parchment, and let the cakes cool completely before frosting. (IMPORTANT! The 10-minute waiting period is COMPLETE crap. I waited 10 minutes to the second, and it was an utter disaster when I tried to remove the first layer. Rather than one lovely layer, I had three different pieces! Definitely let your cake cool all the way before you remove it from the pans. As I said to my mother as I mixed up another layer, THIS is why I buy extra of all the ingredients! [if it was just my family, I would've iced the pieces back together and called it good, but this was for company])
To make the frosting, put the cold cream cheese into a medium bowl. Using a wooden spoon, work the lemon zest, juice, and vanilla into the cheese until uniform, then add the sifted sugar in 2 or 3 additions, stirring the frosting until smooth. (Wooden spoon, my foot! I used a hand-held mixer, and it came together super easily. You're already making your own frosting. Don't make it any more difficult than it has to be!)
To frost the cake, put a dab of frosting in the center of a large, attractive plate. Center one of the cake rounds on the plate, and apply an even layer of frosting to the top. Place the second cake round atop the first, and apply an even layer of frosting to the top. Use the remaining frosting to cover the sides of the cake. Cream cheese makes a soft frosting that doesn’t lend itself to squiggles or other decorative elements; it is beautiful on its own, just smoothly spread on the cake, with a thread of lemon zest visible here and there. Chill if you’re not serving the cake right away. Let the cake come back up to room temperature to serve.
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