(Insanely Good) Carrot Cake

I am strong believer in good manners, saying “thank you,” and doing nice things for people.  I think these everyday behaviors can make life just a little bit better, sweet almost, and show the world just how much you care not just about others, but also about you and your values.

I recently baked this excellent carrot cake–what I’ve dubbed here as “Insanely Good”–for my friend Andy Brown at LSU, a wonderful painter and excellent friend.  It was my way of saying “thank you” for his perpetual willingness to help and listen, a fitting treat for remarkably sweet behavior.  Truthfully, I would have baked Andy anything, but carrot cake has been a longtime favorite of his (and a missing recipe on this blog!), so cake from carrots it is.

Pictured: “Bedroom Altar” (2011, Andy Brown); this was the first painting I ever saw in Andy’s portfolio.  It’s not his most recent work, but I distinctly remember several conversations on the conceptualization of space, home, and work one day while visiting Andy in his studio.

Today’s Carrot Cake recipe comes courtesy of the Simply Recipes blog, a fantastic baked good that I suggest few to no deviations from.  I often develop my own recipes for Clearly Delicious, but it can be hard to adapt a cake recipe when the chemistry and base is just so good.  Elise’s recipe uses crushed pineapple, coconut, shredded carrots, and shelled walnuts to create a flavor that brings out the life of an otherwise semi-sweet root vegetable.  Its use of oil keeps the cake from becoming dry, and the decadent cream cheese icing pairs beautifully with the cinnamon-spice cake underneath it.  The cake is a little high in sugar and oil (no doubt the reason why it’s so good), but can be adapted to include half applesauce for half of the oil and 1/2 cup – 1 cup less sugar as necessary.

While feeling thankful for good friends, I’d like to share a fitting quote from The Recipe Reader, a book I’m currently obsessed with as I work on my dissertation:

“The root of the word recipe, the Latin word recipere, meaning both to give and to receive, reminds us that the instructions that appear to tie down the form of a dish to be shared exist in a perpetual state of exchange.” (6)

The authors go on to state that cooking and recipes are a process of “giving and taking, partaking, and retaining” that I find especially fitting when baking for friends and especially true when showing you care.  Just like the meaning of recipe—to give and to receive—here’s a little something.

Carrot Cake

This original recipe for Elise Bauer’s Carrot Cake can be found here.  Elise suggests icing the cake all over as one would a birthday cake or traditional circular confection.  Here, I’ve halved it into two loaves and used less than half the icing the original recipe yields.  Like a good quick bread that is sweet and cake-y, this Carrot Cake is so moist and good, I feel it needs little or no icing.  But heck, this icing is seriously good.

Ingredients:

–Cake–

*3 cups flour

*1 teaspoon salt

*1 tablespoon baking soda

*1 tablespoon cinnamon

*2 cups sugar (can sub. 1 1/2 cups)

*1 1/2 cups olive, vegetable, or grapeseed oil (can sub. with 1/2 applesauce)

*4 large eggs, beaten

*1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts, roughly chopped

*1 1/2 cups shredded semisweet coconut

*2 cups carrots, finely grated

*1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

–Icing–

*1 (4 oz.) package Philly cream cheese, room temperature (use whole fat)

*3 tablespoons butter, room temperature

*1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

*1 teaspoon almond extract

*1 tablespoon lemon juice

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Shred carrots using a food processor (you won’t regret this time saver) and reserve.  In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

2.) Using the paddle attachment and a standing mixer (such as a KitchenAid) on medium speed, beat together sugar with oil and eggs.  Slowly sift in dry ingredients until incorporated, then stop mixer, scrape down sides, and mix well for 30 seconds to a minute.

3.) Turn off mixer and using a spatula, fold in walnuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple.

4.) Pour batter into two well-greased and floured (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5.) Transfer cakes to a cooling rack and prepare icing: in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together all five ingredients until well-combined.  Frost cakes as desired and serve.

Makes 2 (9 x 5-inch) carrot cakes.

–Helana Brigman

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