Recipe: Italian Carrot Cake (2024)

FAQs

Can a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting be frozen? ›

A properly wrapped carrot cake can stay in the freezer for up to 3 to 4 months. To freeze, cut the cake into slices or wrap the whole cake tightly in plastic wrap and then in the Colored Square Aluminum Foil Dessert Pans.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

When a cake is wet in the middle it is because the edges have cooked faster than the centre. This happens because of the way the cake cooks naturally in the tin – the sides of the cake tin heat up first.

Carrots add sweetness and moisture to a batter. Carrot cakes have been around for centuries, but the modern carrot cake can be traced back to World War II when carrots were suggested as a way to add sweetness to cakes when sugar was being rationed, according to the World Carrot Museum of Skipton, England.

Frosted carrot cake must be refrigerated due to the cream cheese in the frosting. It will be fine at room temperature for 3-4 hours, but refrigerate, covered, after that for up to 5 days.

What you can't do, however, is leave carrot cake out on the counter indefinitely. If you want to keep carrot cake in tip-top shape from beginning to end, the FDA recommends that you don't leave it on the counter for any longer than two hours.

Carrot cake is oil-based, rather than butter-based. This keeps it moist and helps it last for days. Unfortunately, it also means you lose the leavening power that creaming butter and sugar would bring. (Creaming, or beating together the two ingredients on high speed, aerates the butter.)

Place a box grater on a cutting board. Using a downward motion, scrape the pointed end of the carrot along the large holes of the box grater. Be careful to keep your hands and fingers out of the way! Repeat this shredding motion until you reach the last 2 inches of each carrot.

Pecans are the Southern choice, but walnuts are delicious, too. Whichever you use, make sure to toast the nuts before adding them into the batter to maximize their flavor. Flour: All-purpose flour provides the right texture and density. Baking soda: This leavener helps the cake layers to rise into a fluffy cake.

Carrot cake usually tastes better the next day, so it's a great recipe to make ahead of time. Simply keep it covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Why does carrot cake take so long to cook? ›

Carrot cakes mixtures are usually quite moist, and dense in texture. They probably take longer than some mixtures to cook in the center because of their content. You could try baking at a low temperature for a longer period.

Seriously though, if using only natural carrots, it is hard to get a significant carroty taste in a cake, mainly because 1) carrots don't have a very strong taste, 2) some of the taste is lost with cooking, and 3) the native texture and taste of a cake overwhelm whatever taste is remaining in the carrots.

Carrots contain pigments that are sensitive to changes in pH balance. When the shreds of carrot come into contact with the alkaline baking soda, a chemical reaction takes place that causes the pigments to change color. Ipso facto, green carrots!

It needs other things, too, to be sure: Spices, like cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, to offset the earthiness of the carrots. Shredded coconut, with its savory edginess, adds another flavor dimension. (Walnuts are optional, and raisins do not belong in any cake that is not explicitly a fruitcake.)

You can freeze frosted cakes as long as the frosting is freezer-stable. Delicate meringue-based frostings will not freeze well, but buttercream and cream cheese frostings will freeze nicely.

Thawing cakes is easy. Transfer the wrapped cakes from the freezer to the refrigerator one day before decorating/serving. I usually take them out of the freezer container to thaw. The cakes take at least 8 hours to thaw completely in the refrigerator.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises refrigerating any food made with cream cheese after 2 hours (that includes time spent making the food). The same typically goes for frostings made with other perishable foods such as.

It's important to note that although cream cheese frosting does generally freeze quite well (due to the high fat content), sometimes freezing can slightly alter the texture, and it may become slightly softer or grainy after thawing. However, re-whipping can usually help improve its texture.