TWD: Bill's Big Carrot Cake


The theme for TWD this week is carrot cake. I've tried out various recipes from other authors and I was curious to find out how Ms. Greenspan's version will turn out.

After reading through the recipe twice, I've decided to make some slight changes. First of all, I felt that the amount of sugar called for in the recipe would be too much for me and so I only added 75% of the sugar. Secondly, instead of baking 3 individual round cakes and stacked them up with with cream cheese frosting in between, I've decided to take a short cut and bake it in my 10X10 inch square cake pan. This is because I do not have any baking pans of 2-inch height that I can stack them up and fit into my oven and it is also not feasible to bake them individually as the baking time would take at least 2.5 hours.

During the mixing process, the amount of shredded carrot did get me worried though. When I added half of it into the batter, the carrot has already filled up to the brim of the mixing bowl and I had to mix it very slowly. After that, I've decided to add only 50% from the remaining half of the carrots to the batter and gave the leftovers to my rabbits. Lastly, the recipe mentioned that the baking time is 40-50 minutes and I thought, since my cake is thicker, the baking time should be longer. But after 1 hour, the cake was still not cooked. Then I tried to bake for another 15 minutes and again, it was still not done. In the end, I had to prolong the baking time further and to prevent burning, I sat in front of the oven and watched over the cake. In the end, the cake was finally done.... after 1 hour and 40 minutes of baking!

The long baking time did not affect the texture of the cake at all. The cake was still very soft and moist, and the coconut gave an extra kick to the overall texture. To me, the best part from the whole baking experience was licking the paddle of the mixer clean after mixing the cream cheese frosting. :-)

I don't have time to type the whole recipe now, as I need to pack my luggage for my trip tomorrow morning. Do check out the entries from other bloggers from TWD site and you will be able to get the recipe from there.

Recipe can be found here.

Comments

grace said…
i'm a beater-licker myself, especially when cream cheese icing is involved. :)
ohh..looks tasty! and less messy than a layered cake.
Anonymous said…
Absolutely beautiful and such an awesome presentation!
Engineer Baker said…
I love the little swirl of frosting on top - it turns this homey dessert into something classy and beautiful. Good job!
Edith said…
your creativity never failed me. Love your presentation. Have a good trip.
CB said…
What a great photo! I really love the look of the square with the little swirl of frosting on top! Hurray for a fellow bunny lover! You're a nicer bunny mom than me. My bunnies didnt get any leftover shredded carrot. haha. What kind of bunnies do you have? Have a great trip!
Clara @ I♥food4thought
Anonymous said…
I love carrot cake. And I agree with the rest, the little swirl of frosting on top is so pretty. Lucky bunnies get extra food for the day. :P
LyB said…
I love the idea of baking it in a square pan, lovely presentation!
mimi said…
love the square bites, with the individual round swirl piped frosting. really pretty! i also was worried about the amount of grated carrots, but somehow they all melted during cooking and it was delish!
Bumblebutton said…
Very pretty! I can't believe how long they took to bake! Look yummy--almost as good as eating the batter.
Lori said…
I liked the liberties you took. I wish I had reduced the sugar a little. Very nice looking squares.
Sihan said…
the coconut added was indeed good. tt extra addition i liked too.

your squares look so neat and refined!
That is a great looking cake, I'm drooling!
hungryjess said…
This looks heavenly! I'm a sucker for carrot cake and I use a recipe given by a very special friend. One day, I'll make it for you to try and give me some tips okay?
Come back from Manilla quick! Nicholas is totemo urusaii!!
Hope you're having a tremendous feast =)
Heather B said…
looks wonderful! Great job!
Mari said…
I love the individual carrot cake squares, they look very fancy!
Anonymous said…
Beautiful photos - your cake is perfect!
Melissa said…
Your squares look great!
Gretchen Noelle said…
Adorable squares! Love them! Too bad it took so incredibly long to bake - gracious! Great job!
Shari said…
Looks great. The swirl of frosting looks perfect. Love your photos.
Anonymous said…
This is just beautiful! I love the cake squares and your frosting and presentation are gorgeous!
Sharon said…
Oh, just love the idea of individual cakes with out baking them that way! Really cute frosting swirls.
Anonymous said…
Great job! And real cute too!
Anonymous said…
Excellent job on this recipe!
Yuri said…
Wonderfully looking bake you have there, well done. Such a coincidence, though I didn't bake it on Tuesday. I baked on Thursday night to give away as a present to a colleague who was moving on. Hope she likes it.
Anonymous said…
You're very creative, this looks wonderful!

Enjoy that trip!
BumbleVee said…
Carrot cake is our fav....

I have a recipe you many like to try .... check out my Tea and Scones blog some day...