Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Moist Moist Carrot Cake




If you're like me, and like moist cakes, moist, dense, wholesome, hearty cakes, then this has to be THE carrot cake recipe for you. Good enough to eat without frosting, and I daresay, fairly healthy, judging by the ingredients.

What To Put In

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger

1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
125ml sunflower oil

4 grated carrots, large-ish
10 prunes chopped
1 can pineapple, chopped and drained
handful of walnuts, chopped roughly

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients
2. Mix in a separate bowl the eggs, oil and vanilla, and chuck into the dry ingredients. Stir, (I use a whisk to stir), until all combined.
3. Chuck in all the other stuff, until all combined.
4. Pour into square 8" pan, lined and greased, and plonk into 180C oven for 45-50 minutes.

So easy!!!! Even better if you have domestic help to help grate the carrots. I'm not sure if food processors grate it too finely. Can someone tell me?

Anyway, I made this on Monday night, just before popping out to Zeta Bar for a friend's birthday. Served it on Tuesday night, and it was wonderfully moist. Sister said it could have done with a dollop of thick pure bulla cream, but ahem, I am into health food these days, so no cream. Okay, okay, that's rubbish, I forgot to stock up.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Sifu, yr recipe looks so simple! Looks yummy! What if i add some poppy seed inside, when should i add it?

fatboybakes said...

doesn't make a difference i think. add it at the end la. that's when i usually add mine for other cakes.

boo_licious said...

Yummy as usual! I had an interesting take on carrot walnut that day - a light version but still with the taste at Vanilla Box. Even their cream cheese frosting was fluffy and not heavy as the usual ones we get.

diddy said...

yum! I love carrot cakes (especially with extra nuts for the nut lover I am!) This one looks delish!

Anonymous said...

hey nice blog. yummy recipes u hv here! i'm a foodie myself...great to know likeminded ppl =)

Anonymous said...

heyy thx for dropping by. pls don't say such a thing that u r an amateur. we learn from one another. btw, can i link you? =) your blog is too good 2b missed.

fatboybakes said...

evan, of course, link ahead. honored. will link u too.
melissacookingdiva, wow, are you a celebrity ched?

Anonymous said...

Hi, just found your carrot cake recipe...looks great! Can you help me adjust the amounts for a cake to feed 35 people?? And what about some frosting for it? Cheers, Vivdownunder

fatboybakes said...

hi anonymous, i guess you should triple the quantities for 35 people. I have been using this recipe a lot, and I find you can omit the crushed pineapple, as it makes it a bit too moist. Without the pineapple, its perfect. And you can use food processor to grate the carrots and chop the walnuts.

as for frosting, i have been serving it with a lemon cream cheese frosting. 250gm cream cheese, creamed, with 50gm butter, add in 2 batches, 2 cups of sifted icing sugar (as in 1 cup each time), a dash of lemon juice, and grated rind from one lemon....

Anonymous said...

Hi again,
Thanks for the advice for the cake for 35 people! I made it with one 400g tin of crushed pineapple and it was really awesome! Freezes well too without the frosting. So, this recipe is going at the top of the favourites list. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Hi again, a little while ago you told me how make a cake for 35 people... well I wwould like to make this cake for my wedding cake would be grateful for any advice you have to offer! I would like it at least 12" square, or same diamter round, and at least 4 or 5" high. Would also like to use the cream cheese frosting recipe you gave me then but need to put icing flowers on top. Will the frosting hold them or will they disappear?? Thanks!!

fatboybakes said...

hi vivdownunder, congratulations on your wedding.
i think you might want to experiment on the cream cheese frosting on a smaller cake. i think if you added more icing sugar, it will be more solid. and since its a wedding cake, i'm sure people wont mind the extra sweetness. my usual cream cheese frosting proportions these days, for a less sweet frosting, is 200gm of cream cheese to 1 cup icing sugar, which is enough to coat an 8" round cake, fairly generously. anyway, it's easy enough to whip up should you need more quickly.

as for the baking time, you probably need to double the baking time, for a 12" pan. Try to cook it on a slightly lower heat, i'd say about 150C, so that it cooks evenly.

if you have any other questions, do email me at fatboybakes@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi, this was my first shot baking a carrot cake and I have to say your recipe produced "the best ever cake I have ever baked" - not my words but from my dad. Friends who ate said it was "awesome", "mind blowing" or "absolutely divine". I stuck to the recipe but threw in a few chopped dried apricots...thank you so much for an excellent recipe. Can't wait to try more of your recipes!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the recipe ! Here (I'm french) people are so cold to try new things that I didn't mention it being a cake with carrots, or they wouldn't have give it a try. Let me tell you not a single bit was left ! Then only I could tell them it's a carrot cake ;-)
The recipe is really great, much better than any other I tried before ! Thanks so much again !
Arcadiasconer

dumb-baker said...

Hi FBB,

I made this moist carrot cake last weekend...it turns out very yummy but very dense too. Haha...i noticed that you wrote in the comment section the cake is perfect without the pineapple. I didn't see that earlier. Now i know. I put chunks of fresh pineapple and my cake turned out more like 'kueh'. But the taste is still yummy...shall omit the pineapple next time..hehe. Thanks for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

can i replace the flour with wholemeal flour u think?

Anonymous said...

anon, i am not sure about wholemeal. try and see what happens and let me know!

dumb baker, glad u liked the recipe.

arcadiasconer, if i were french, i prob wouldnt eat carrot cake either, hahah, you guys have sooo many other lovely desserts.. but glad u liked the recipe.

anon, great that your dad loved it.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to add when i make a moist cake and want to cook it evenly in the center - I put a ceramic floor tile on the baking rack and when i turn on the oven i let it heat to the required temp. When I put the cake on top of the tile to cook for the required time, the tile is a heat boost and cooks the center of the cake. This was in response to the lady wanted to make this cake for her wedding cake in triple porportions.

Matrox Graphics said...

That sounds like a great carrot cake recipe! You have wonderful photos, too, and I love the name of your blog! Thanks for stopping by to visit mine!