Carrot cake
Encyclopedia
Carrot cake is a cake which consists of grated carrot
s mixed with batter
. The carrot softens in the cooking process, and the cake
usually has a soft, dense texture. The carrots themselves enhance the flavor, texture, and appearance of the cake.
in method of preparation (all the wet ingredients, such as the eggs and sugar, are mixed together, all the dry ingredients are mixed together, and the wet are then added to the dry) and final consistency (which is usually denser than a traditional cake and has a coarser crumb).
Many carrot cake recipes include optional ingredients, such as nuts
, raisin
, pineapple
, or coconut
. The most common icing on carrot cake is a cream cheese icing (icing sugar, butter and cream cheese).
or cream cheese
icing and walnut
s, usually chopped. It is often coated with icing or marzipan
made to look like carrots. Carrot cake is popular in loaf
, sheet cake
and cupcake
form, and (in the United Kingdom as well as North America) can be found pre-packaged at grocery stores, and fresh at bakeries
. Some carrot cakes are even layered
.
, during which time sweeteners were scarce and expensive, while carrots, which contain more sugar than any other vegetable besides the sugar beet
, were much easier to come by and were used to make sweet desserts. The origins of Carrot Cake are disputed but it is thought to come from Gothenburg
, Sweden
. The popularity of carrot cake was probably revived in Britain because of rationing during the Second World War
.
Carrot cakes first became commonly available in restaurants and cafeterias in the United States
in the early 1960s. They were at first a novelty item, but people liked them so much that carrot cake became standard dessert fare. In 2005, the American-based Food Network
listed carrot cake, with its cream-cheese icing, as number five of the top five fad foods of the 1970s.
Carrot cake is often referred to as Passion cake.
Carrot cake was voted as the favourite cake in the United Kingdom
, according to a survey in the Radio Times
in 2011.
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
s mixed with batter
Batter (cooking)
Batter is a semi-liquid mixture of one or more flours combined with liquids such as water, milk or eggs used to prepare various foods. Often a leavening agent such as baking powder is included to aerate and fluff up the batter as it cooks, or the mixture may be naturally fermented for this purpose...
. The carrot softens in the cooking process, and the cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
usually has a soft, dense texture. The carrots themselves enhance the flavor, texture, and appearance of the cake.
Baking and ingredients
Deceptively named, carrot cake more closely resembles a quick breadQuick bread
Quick bread is an American term used to denote a type of bread which is leavened with leavening agents other than yeast. Quick breads includes many cakes, brownies and cookies, as well as banana bread, beer bread, cornbread, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, scones, and soda bread.-History::"Quick...
in method of preparation (all the wet ingredients, such as the eggs and sugar, are mixed together, all the dry ingredients are mixed together, and the wet are then added to the dry) and final consistency (which is usually denser than a traditional cake and has a coarser crumb).
Many carrot cake recipes include optional ingredients, such as nuts
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
, raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
, pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
, or coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
. The most common icing on carrot cake is a cream cheese icing (icing sugar, butter and cream cheese).
Presentation
Carrot cake may be eaten plain, but it is commonly either glazed or topped with white icingIcing (food)
Icing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...
or cream cheese
Cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting, white cheese with a high fat content. Traditionally, it is made from unskimmed milk enriched with additional cream....
icing and walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
s, usually chopped. It is often coated with icing or marzipan
Marzipan
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal. Persipan is a similar, yet less expensive product, in which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels...
made to look like carrots. Carrot cake is popular in loaf
Loaf
A loaf is a shape, usually rounded or oblong, mass of food. It may refer to a bread, or meatloaf.The term "loaf" sometimes refers to "head" from the rhyming slang "loaf of bread" ....
, sheet cake
Sheet cake
A sheet cake is a cake baked in a large, flat rectangular pan such as a sheet pan or a jelly roll pan. These single-layer cakes are almost always frosted, and may be decorated on the flat surface on the top...
and cupcake
Cupcake
A cupcake is a small cake designed to serve one person, frequently baked in a small, thin paper or aluminum cup...
form, and (in the United Kingdom as well as North America) can be found pre-packaged at grocery stores, and fresh at bakeries
Bakery
A bakery is an establishment which produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cakes, pastries and pies. Some retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises.-See also:*Baker*Cake...
. Some carrot cakes are even layered
Layer cake
A layer cake is a cake consisting of multiple layers, usually held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be made into layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices...
.
History
Carrots have been used in sweet cakes since the medieval periodMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, during which time sweeteners were scarce and expensive, while carrots, which contain more sugar than any other vegetable besides the sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
, were much easier to come by and were used to make sweet desserts. The origins of Carrot Cake are disputed but it is thought to come from Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The popularity of carrot cake was probably revived in Britain because of rationing during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Carrot cakes first became commonly available in restaurants and cafeterias in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1960s. They were at first a novelty item, but people liked them so much that carrot cake became standard dessert fare. In 2005, the American-based Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
listed carrot cake, with its cream-cheese icing, as number five of the top five fad foods of the 1970s.
Carrot cake is often referred to as Passion cake.
Carrot cake was voted as the favourite cake in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, according to a survey in the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
in 2011.
See also
- Chai tow kwayChai tow kwayChai tao kway is a common dish or dim sum of Teochew cuisine in Chaoshan , Singapore and Malaysia, consisting of stir-fried cubes of radish cake.-Names:...
, a fried "carrot cake" commonly found in Southeast Asia as a breakfast or snack item; however the name "carrot cake" is a misnomer, as it contains no carrot.