Not as in: in the middle of the scale of fabulous carrot cakes. No. It's squarely at the high end because it tastes so good.
No, it actually falls — the cake doesn't rise in that nice domed way cakes should. That's because I put pineapple in it. When I just do raisins, it rises.
See?
But pineapple is so good… it's just… wet and heavy.
Before we get into that, here's the closet progress:
Are you wondering what that wooden thing is sticking out behind the bookcase there on the right?
It's a balance beam that Joseph made for Bridget when she was little. I can post more about it another time. The light isn't good enough for pictures of it, but note that it is good enough for pictures of the closet interior, because that is WHITE and BRIGHT and has a light in it!!!!
Anyway, on to falling carrot cake.
This is the cake I took to that little gathering last Sunday I told you about, since I was asked to bring dessert.
The recipes I've used are all pretty similar in method and basic ingredients. This one happens to be from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. But long ago Habou had made one that featured pineapple, pecans, and sesame seeds, and that's how I like it. So while Dorie's recipe is fine with the raisins, I sub in my faves. (I actually don't love raisins in cakes — they are too soft for me that way.)
It will rise properly her way. Not mine.
So I fill the center with carrot curls, which you make by using your veggie peeler to peel down to where the carrot will just curl up in wide ribbons.
In my mind I am making carrot damask roses in some sort of Thai food decorating contest, but in reality it's just a pile of carrot ribbons that fill up the crater in the middle of the cake.
I like to decorate a cake in a way that primarily achieves the goal of not challenging my hastiness, so I usually go for minimalistic — a stark coating of frosting that doesn't even usually have swirls or anything, unless swirls serve to cover up some defect.
I may dust with cocoa or put a few violets on top if I have any out in the yard.
But a secondary goal would be to reveal to partygoers what is in the cake, especially if they are suspicious about nuts, coconut, etc. I did sprinkle this with a few sesame seeds, but they didn't really show up. I considered toasting them for contrast, but laziness and impatience ruled the day.
Edit: I daftly forgot to put a photo of a slice in this post yesterday. Of course, it's not the greatest slice or photo, having been quickly snapped before the hordes descended, but at least you can see that it's not that the center isn't cooked — it's just how this cake is (with the pineapple and the moistness and all). My friend Anne wants you to know that this plate was her grandmother's!
It's mighty tasty, and of course, men who otherwise eschew cake really do love carrot cake.
Carrot Cake, Like Mother, Like Daughter
For the cake:
- 1 cup peanut oil, melted (or softened) butter, or melted coconut oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 3 cups grated carrots (4-9 depending on their size)
- 1 cup chopped pecans (reserve some halves for decorating)
- 3/4 cup pineapple (now they sell cans of pineapple bits which are heftier than crushed and don't require further cutting up like chunks or rings — yay market forces!)
- 1 cup shredded coconut (either sweetened or not, reserve some for decorating)
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 350.
Butter and flour or butter and line with wax paper (preferred, due to terror of sticking) 2 10″ round baking pans (Dorie calls for 3 8″ pans and that will also make the batter more likely to set up without falling — I like a bigger, thinner-layered cake).
Beat together the oil or butter with the sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs one by one to incorporate without lumps.
To this mixture, add the dry ingredients on low speed until completely mixed in. In the stand mixer or food processor (which is already dirty because you grated the carrots in it, so might as well use that if it's big enough), I just add them without previous mixing, give them a stir with a fork as they are sitting on top of the wet ingredients, and they get mixed in just fine with this kind of cake. Saves an extra bowl.
Gently add the carrots, nuts, pineapple, coconut, and sesame seeds. If you are using the food processor, you will need to do this step in a separate bowl so that you don't process things to a puree (or switch to a plastic blade).
Divide between your pans. Bake for 40 minutes or so, rotating the pans after 35 minutes for even browning. The cake should be shrinking from the edges, browned, and puffy (yes, it will look puffy at this point!). A toothpick may or may not come out clean depending on whether you stick it into a piece of pineapple!
Let cool on racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and turn out onto the racks and let cool completely (removing the wax paper if you've used it).
You can leave it like this with wax paper in between the layers under your cake dome, or wrap up and freeze.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 package cream cheese (8 oz.), at room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 lb (3-4 cups) confectioner's sugar
Mix the cream cheese and butter, add the sugar slowly. You can add a little lemon juice or cream if you need it for spreadability.
Frost the layers first, then the top. If you have enough frosting, do the sides. It's fine to leave the sides unfrosted, so don't worry about that! Decorate with the bits of things you have reserved. Serve a little on the chilled side if possible — an hour in the fridge helps set things up!
By the way — still plenty of time to add your link to {pretty, happy, funny, real}!
Jamaica says
I love carrot cake, it is always my birthday request. Not that i really request, because I always make it, but I guess I get to pick 🙂 my very favorite is from the Muffin Lady, Linda Fisher (who also has stupendous muffin recipes) hers actually includes pineapple and orange marmalade it is lovely! I can email you the recipe if your interested. Also, I think simply decorated cakes are beautiful, in fact our wedding cake was stacked frosted cheesecakes with fresh flowers on top!
Kathy@9peas says
Looks wonderful – I say add another egg if it keeps falling but then that would make it wetter – so just keep adding carrot curls, they are beautiful anyway!
Leila says
The thing is — it tastes exactly right!
Kristi says
Cake looks delicious, closet inspiring!
Carrot cake is what my kids always ask for their birthdays. We add a tablespoon or 2 of sour cream in the cream cheese icing for a delicious little tang.
Lisa G. says
You know how they say you should dredge the chocolate chips in flour so they don’t all to the cake’s bottom? Well, could you do that with your fruits? Or would it get gummy because they’re wet?
Your idea of putting on the top what’s inside is smart!
Leila says
Lisa, it’s not that the pineapple falls — it’s just the cake as a whole doesn’t stay risen. It’s okay though — it’s so moist and good this way.
Mary says
Carrot Cake with pineapple is a very southern thing. I use crushed pineapple in mine. So very, very yummy!! Your cake looks beautiful Auntie Leila!! I am sure it was delish.
Tamara says
Do some people eschew cake?! That’s a terrible thing… except. … more for me! 🙂 Yours looks delicious.
Dixie says
It looks beautiful with the carrot curls! And sounds SO tasty!
What if you dried the crushed pineapple a bit between paper towel or dishtowels before adding it? I’m sure the pineapple would still be moist, but maybe it would make a difference in terms of heaviness. Like how zucchini cakes rise better if you do the same to the shredded zucchini?
stushmo says
I always make my carrot cake in bunt or angel food cake pan…
Laura says
A suggestion I would make is to add a bit of cake flour or some cornstarch–like 1/4 to 1/2 cp. If the mixture is just too dense and wet, wouldn’t it make sense to add a bit more flour or starch to balance it out? Or another 1/2 tsp of baking powder? Cornstarch might help soak up the liquid without adding to the bulk. Or is it possible to simply use 1/4 cp less pineapple? Or what about using pineapple juice? That way you could keep the flavor but measure the liquid more accurately compared to the whole fruit pulp. Either way, it’s really pretty! The icing my mom and I use a lot for different things is a pack of cream cheese whipped til creamy with vanilla and brown sugar (1/3 cp), and then make whipped cream with a pint of cream (and just 2 tbsp of sugar)and then fold the two together. It’s light, creamy, and not that sweet, so it goes well with other things that might be very rich or sweet, without making them overwhelmingly so. I too like the idea of decorating the outside with items on the inside… especially in today’s day of so many food sensitivities.
Amy Z says
I’m assuming that you’re using AP flour for this humble suggestion to make sense. You could use more flour; I’d start with 1/4 – 1/3 cup. However, I would substitute (starting with) 1/3 cup of the whole wheat flour for 1/3 cup of the AP flour (depending on how much moisture you have you could start with as little as 1/4 cup substitution; you’ll have to be the judge). The WWF will absorb the extra moisture. The rule of thumb is you can substitute 1/3 of the total amount of flour in a baked good with WWF before you’ll see a distinct texture and taste difference. Added bonus is the extra nutrition (ssshhhh! don’t tell the kids and husbands :). I wouldn’t add any extra leavener (i.e. baking powder) because you’re problem isn’t in rising, it’s in it not staying risen. The extra flour or substituted WWF should help with structure holding.
The cake is beautiful!
Cristina says
The cake looks yummy and I love your shoes. 🙂
Catherine Jerge says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It sounds absolutely amazing. So amazing that I intend to make it today. And I look forward to it falling so I can decorate it with carrot curls. : )
Astrid says
Your cake looks beautiful! Pineapple in carrot cake sounds very good. Perhaps I can convince my husband to make it for me for mothers day (which is tomorrow here in Norway), or perhaps I should just make it myself…
In Norway, some traditional cakes are supposed to rise and stay risen only because you beat eggs and sugar sufficiently stiff (They consist of eggs, sugar, a tiny amount of wheat flour, a small amount of potato starch and a small amount of baking powder, and are filled with cream and whatever you would like). Well, my cakes never stay risen. The trick my mother (who can never make her cakes stay risen, either) taught me is to put more filling in the middle of the cake, so that the volume of filling inside the cake fills the hole. No one I know complains of extra filling!
Melissa Diskin says
This recipe is familiar to me (pineapple is standard in southern carrot cakes), but I’ve never seen one with sesame seeds. Are they crunchy or otherwise textured, or do they offer some interesting flavor? I’m intrigued. My sister’s favorite cake is CC so I’d like to make this one for fun for her, but I’m sort of giving the sesame seeds the side-eye…. (I do like benne wafers though, if you’ve ever had them.)
Leila says
Melissa, the texture isn’t appreciable, but the flavor is subtle and goes so well with the carrot cake idea. It just adds a little something!
Melissa Diskin says
Great! I’ll try it this week. 🙂
Jennie says
Carrot cake always makes an appearance at our Easter table, so I’ll be saving this recipe.
What about baking it in a Bundt pan so the center isn’t an issue?
Anna says
Here’s my theory. It’s the enzymes. Pineapple enzymes are pretty fantastic. I saw a cooking show once where they marinated shrimp in the enzymes, and when the shrimp were grilled, they actually…. DISAPPEARED! The flesh of the shrimp honest-to-goodness was no longer present.
So I think somehow your pineapple is cooking away the “oomph” of the cake. No solution for you, though.