<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occasionally Coherent]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://blog.bimajority.org]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Garrett Wollman]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://blog.bimajority.org/author/garrettwollman/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Carrot cake]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Last October, I organized <a href="/tag/pumpkin-pie-fest/">Pumpkin Pie Fest</a>, a celebration of that classic Thanksgiving dessert.  (In fact, we held the event on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving, a holiday which in this country is called &#8220;<a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day'>Columbus Day</a>&#8220;, on which we try to pretend we&#8217;re not celebrating one of the largest genocides in recorded history.)  I baked eight pies, and was able to organize enough other volunteers to double that total.  My original purpose in holding the event was to give myself an excuse to try a whole bunch of pumpkin pie recipes and get some sort of objective evaluation as to which one was best &#8212; and, not coincidentally, get a bunch of other people to eat most of the pie so I wasn&#8217;t stuck with a freezer full of super-high-calorie orange custard.</p>
<p>Earlier this week I was thinking about doing the same for carrot cake.  I had three or four recipes that I wanted to try, and I figured <em><strong>&lt;blink&gt;FREE CAKE&lt;/blink&gt;</strong></em> would be enough to convince people that it was worth doing.  It didn&#8217;t seem to work; I received only one response indicating the remotest interest in doing something of the sort, despite asking a number of people who are far better bakers than I am.  Of course, carrot cake has its detractors, but for every person who says &#8220;sure, I like carrot cake, just don&#8217;t make me eat cream-cheese frosting&#8221;, there&#8217;s another person who views carrot cake as little more than a means to pretend that cream-cheese frosting isn&#8217;t quite as unhealthy as it actually is.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I came up with a list of nine different recipes for things that are vaguely carrot-cake-ish (not counting the Moosewood one that uses pre-cooked carrot) from my personal cookbook collection, and I wanted to take note of them all here before I lose the piece of paper I was using to take notes.  There are two major categories: those with raisins, and those with pineapple and shredded or flaked coconut.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Source</th>
<th>Recipe</th>
<th>Yield</th>
<th>Notable ingredients</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Diane St. Clair, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449427537/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1449427537&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=M7H2N3QK45PYDU77"><cite>The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;29</td>
<td>Spicy Carrot Cake Muffins</td>
<td>12 cupcakes</td>
<td>whole-wheat pastry flour, raisins, pecans, allspice/clove/nutmeg</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Joanne Chang, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081186944X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=081186944X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=KVZMIIMJNTQMH3C2"><cite>Flour</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;159</td>
<td>Classic Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting</td>
<td>12 cupcakes or 2-layer 8&#8243; round</td>
<td>raisins, walnuts, ginger</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>King Arthur Flour, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881507199/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0881507199&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=IWMLZEYC6PRIVNGF"><cite>Whole Grain Baking</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;419</td>
<td>Carrot Cake</td>
<td>9&#215;13 sheet cake or 2-layer 9&#8243; round or 3-layer 8&#8243; round</td>
<td>whole wheat (of course), raisins <em>or</em> coconut/pineapple, pecans or walnuts, nutmeg; another KAF cookbook has the same recipe with white flour</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Michael Ruhlman, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316254061/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0316254061&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=TVYBVHNGL6CCKJ4K"><cite>Egg</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;135</td>
<td>Emilia&#8217;s Carrot Cake</td>
<td>did not take note</td>
<td>rum, raisins, applesauce, walnuts, allspice/nutmeg/cardamom/ginger</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alton Brown, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584793414/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1584793414&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=D7LWFM3NOZF6I37U"><cite>I&#8217;m Just Here for More Food</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;128</td>
<td>18-Carrot Cake</td>
<td>did not take note</td>
<td>vanilla yogurt; does not actually have 18 carrots</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alton Brown, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584798572/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1584798572&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=BLP6GJRTV5UMTDDW"><cite>Good Eats: The Middle Years</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;228 (from <cite>Good Eats</cite> #124, &#8220;A Taproot Orange&#8221;)</td>
<td>Carrot Cake</td>
<td>9&#215;3 round</td>
<td>plain yogurt, allspice/nutmeg</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Zoe Nathan, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452123527/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1452123527&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=HTWN67NCUWFSAGQB"><cite>Huckleberry</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;98</td>
<td>Carrot-Apple Teacake</td>
<td>9&#215;5 loaf</td>
<td>raisins, wheat germ or flaxseed, walnuts, nutmeg, grated apple</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Christopher Kimball, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316496995/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0316496995&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=IROPVBKNW2WB7JNS"><cite>The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;288</td>
<td>Light Carrot Cake</td>
<td>2-layer 9&#8243; round</td>
<td>pineapple and coconut, pecans, cake flour; based on a <cite>Cook&#8217;s Illustrated</cite> recipe that Kimball, the magazine&#8217;s owner-publisher, wasn&#8217;t happy with (!)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Richard Sax, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618057080/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0618057080&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=occasiocohere-20&amp;linkId=AQZTJPQTZVEHVXQK"><cite>Classic Home Desserts</cite></a>, p.&nbsp;434</td>
<td>Applesauce-Carrot Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting</td>
<td>10&#8243; tube cake</td>
<td>pineapple/coconut <em>and</em> raisins, allspice/nutmeg, applesauce, pecans or walnuts</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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