I didn't want to turn on the oven in this 90+F heat today but I really
wanted to make this. SF's recipe looks so good and I've never made a
from scratch carrot cake. Only one problem is that I only have bread
flour. I suppose the extra gluten isn't going to hurt a carrot cake as
much as other cakes, but it could. I also subbed half of the sugar for
dark brown sugar.

On 2012-07-04, Cheryl > wrote:
> I didn't want to turn on the oven in this 90+F heat today but I really
> wanted to make this. SF's recipe looks so good and I've never made a
> from scratch carrot cake. Only one problem is that I only have bread
> flour. I suppose the extra gluten isn't going to hurt a carrot cake as
> much as other cakes, but it could. I also subbed half of the sugar for
> dark brown sugar.

If you put in the entire cup of oil, probably won't matter. Got any
blackstrap molasses?

nb

--
vi --the heart of evil!
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain
the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
government." -- Patrick Henry

Hope the cake turns out well for you, Cheryl. I only have 3 kinds of
flour in my house at all times and that's all-purpose, whole wheat and
cake flour.

I sometimes feel like I'm an "odd ball", as Carrot Cake seems to be so
popular with everyone, and know all my kids love it, as well as the
grandkids, and many of my friends. I have a wonderful recipe for it,
that was given to me by a dear friend in AZ., who is now deceased, but
it is my LEAST favorite cake for some reason, and really turns me off.

My most favorite cake of all times is Poppy Seed Cake with a cooked
custard filling and frosting with REAL whipped cream. Second favorite
would be a Lemon Coconut Creme Cake. Chocolate cake is something else I
don't care much for, but some are better than others.

I turned my oven on earlier today, but is cloudy and cool here. I made a
pan of frosted brownies and a lo-cal banana split pie, so my dieting
daughter could have some. The regular recipe is over 500 calories per
slice, but the "lightened-up recipe" is 147 calories per slice. Big
difference! The only thing I had to use the oven for on that, was the
graham cracker crust, and that was only 5 min. in the oven. The pie
looks as good as the picture in the magazine. Told my hubby Gordon
Ramsey would be proud of me! LOL

Judy

On 7/4/2012 7:23 PM, Judy Haffner wrote:
>
> Hope the cake turns out well for you, Cheryl. I only have 3 kinds of
> flour in my house at all times and that's all-purpose, whole wheat and
> cake flour.
>
I need to get some AP to keep on hand again. I only bought the bread
flour because I was making bread while it was still cool out and since I
don't bake often anymore, I thought I could get by with that. The
carrot cake turned out delicious. Very dense. I'm not sure if that was
due to the higher gluten but I tend to doubt it because I think carrot
cake is dense anyway. The ingredients themselves are dense with all of
the carrots, the fruit, nuts and a whole cup of oil. And 3 eggs seems
like a lot but my eggs were extra large size. Maybe that could
contribute to it. But being so dense you are satisfied with a small
piece. The cream cheese frosting recipe is the best I've ever tasted.

> I sometimes feel like I'm an "odd ball", as Carrot Cake seems to be so
> popular with everyone, and know all my kids love it, as well as the
> grandkids, and many of my friends. I have a wonderful recipe for it,
> that was given to me by a dear friend in AZ., who is now deceased, but
> it is my LEAST favorite cake for some reason, and really turns me off.
>
I think it might be texture? It has a sort of stringy mouthfeel
especially this recipe with coconut. I think the pineapple makes it so
moist though. I used fresh, not canned, and it had sat in my fridge
chunked up for a few days so there was plenty of juice. Recipe said to
leave the juice with the canned stuff so I left it with the fresh.

> My most favorite cake of all times is Poppy Seed Cake with a cooked
> custard filling and frosting with REAL whipped cream. Second favorite
> would be a Lemon Coconut Creme Cake. Chocolate cake is something else I
> don't care much for, but some are better than others.
>
The poppy seed cake sounds interesting. Can you share your recipe please?

> I turned my oven on earlier today, but is cloudy and cool here. I made a
> pan of frosted brownies and a lo-cal banana split pie, so my dieting
> daughter could have some. The regular recipe is over 500 calories per
> slice, but the "lightened-up recipe" is 147 calories per slice. Big
> difference! The only thing I had to use the oven for on that, was the
> graham cracker crust, and that was only 5 min. in the oven. The pie
> looks as good as the picture in the magazine. Told my hubby Gordon
> Ramsey would be proud of me! LOL

Sounds great! Good one to find a tasty desert for your daughter! 147
cals is impressive if it tasted good.

On 7/5/2012 10:23 PM, Cheryl wrote:

> I need to get some AP to keep on hand again. I only bought the bread
> flour because I was making bread while it was still cool out and since I
> don't bake often anymore, I thought I could get by with that. The
> carrot cake turned out delicious. Very dense. I'm not sure if that was
> due to the higher gluten but I tend to doubt it because I think carrot
> cake is dense anyway. The ingredients themselves are dense with all of
> the carrots, the fruit, nuts and a whole cup of oil. And 3 eggs seems
> like a lot but my eggs were extra large size. Maybe that could
> contribute to it. But being so dense you are satisfied with a small
> piece. The cream cheese frosting recipe is the best I've ever tasted.

Photo op that I forgot to add. LOL

http://i49.tinypic.com/25zkqbb.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2wodcfa.jpg

On Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:53:39 -0400, Cheryl >
wrote:

>On 7/5/2012 10:23 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>
>> I need to get some AP to keep on hand again. I only bought the bread
>> flour because I was making bread while it was still cool out and since I
>> don't bake often anymore, I thought I could get by with that. The
>> carrot cake turned out delicious. Very dense. I'm not sure if that was
>> due to the higher gluten but I tend to doubt it because I think carrot
>> cake is dense anyway. The ingredients themselves are dense with all of
>> the carrots, the fruit, nuts and a whole cup of oil. And 3 eggs seems
>> like a lot but my eggs were extra large size. Maybe that could
>> contribute to it. But being so dense you are satisfied with a small
>> piece. The cream cheese frosting recipe is the best I've ever tasted.
>
>Photo op that I forgot to add. LOL
>
>http://i49.tinypic.com/25zkqbb.jpg
>http://i46.tinypic.com/2wodcfa.jpg

That looks wonderful.

koko
--
Food is our common ground, a universal experience
James Beard

www.kokoscornerblog.com

Natural Watkins Spices
www.apinchofspices.com

Cheryl wrote:

>The poppy seed cake sounds interesting.
> Can you share your recipe please?

I'd be glad to! You can use your favorite recipe for a white cake,
baking it in a 9 x 13 inch pan, according to directions, or if in a
hurry (which I usually am!) I use a white cake mix, following directions
on pkg. for preparing and baking in a 9 x 13 pan, EXCEPT soak a 2.12
oz. can of poppy seeds about 5 minutes in the water and eggs called for
on the pkg. (or liquid for "scratch" cake) and continue as directions
state. While cake is baking, prepare the topping:

1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
4 egg yolks (should have some left from cake)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

In heavy saucepan, combine flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar. Beat yolks
into milk and gradually add to dry ingredients in pan. Cook until thick,
stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in butter, vanilla and nuts
and set aside.
Cool cake some. Put warm topping on warm cake. Refrigerate until
completely cold.

Beat until thick, 1 pint real whipping cream with a little powdered
sugar and vanilla. Spread over filling. Can "decorate" the top with
maraschino cherries and nuts, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

I LOVE this cake and could easily eat the whole thing myself, I think!
:-)

>Sounds great! Good one to find a tasty
> desert for your daughter! 147 cals is
> impressive if it tasted good.

The banana split pie I made for our daughter on the 4th of July turned
out very good, and I know she really liked it. The pudding part could
have been a little thicker, I thought, so next time, I would cut the
milk down by 1/4 cup.

BTW, the pictures of your Carrot Cake did look very good! My friend
makes hers in layers like that, and the recipe I've used said you can
bake in 3 layer pans or a 15 x 10" jelly roll pan, and that's what I do,
as have taken it to potlucks, etc., so is easier for me to tote it, and
it goes further. I don't use nuts, pineapple, or raisins in the cake
part, which some do, and have tasted it like that, but don't care for it
any better. For me, the cream cheese frosting IS the best part, and I
usually put chopped nuts either in the frosting, or over the top of it.

Judy

On 7/6/2012 2:49 PM, Judy Haffner wrote:
>
> Cheryl wrote:
>
>> The poppy seed cake sounds interesting.
>> Can you share your recipe please?
>
> I'd be glad to!

....

> I LOVE this cake and could easily eat the whole thing myself, I think!
> :-)
>
Thanks, I'm saving that one!


> The banana split pie I made for our daughter on the 4th of July turned
> out very good, and I know she really liked it. The pudding part could
> have been a little thicker, I thought, so next time, I would cut the
> milk down by 1/4 cup.
>
Banana split pie! Yum!! Ok, I need another recipe. LOL I rarely make
deserts but now these ideas are sounding just too good. Plus most of
them can be frozen in single servings easily so if you really feel like
something sweet, it's handy.

> BTW, the pictures of your Carrot Cake did look very good! My friend
> makes hers in layers like that, and the recipe I've used said you can
> bake in 3 layer pans or a 15 x 10" jelly roll pan, and that's what I do,
> as have taken it to potlucks, etc., so is easier for me to tote it, and
> it goes further. I don't use nuts, pineapple, or raisins in the cake
> part, which some do, and have tasted it like that, but don't care for it
> any better. For me, the cream cheese frosting IS the best part, and I
> usually put chopped nuts either in the frosting, or over the top of it.
>
Thanks. I couldn't really taste pineapple in it though. And I cut the
raisins down to half cup, and tried running them through the FP to chop
them but that didn't really work out for some reason. The recipe said
to make 3 layers but I'm glad I didn't try because of the denseness, and
there wouldn't have been enough frosting.

I saw pictures with the nuts around the side but opted not to do that
this time.

I really have to thank SF for this recipe. It is a keeper and I used up
most of the carrots but have enough left to try some of the more savory
recipes offered by others here.