Carrot Cake

My first taste of carrot cake was actually when I moved to the US. My Mom was an exceptional cook and she could bake really well too, but she didn’t really bother with baking. In London. we had so many great bakeries and food stores, like Selfridges, Harrods and Marks & Spencer’s with their amazing food halls, we could get high quality baked goods easily. I remember for our birthdays, my dad would get us these amazing cakes and tortes from Selfridges. When we were shopping at our favourite shopping centre, Brent Cross, we were always hoping that our trip would end at Lindy’s, where we could enjoy creamy cauliflower and cheese or their mind blowing macaroni and cheese. Of course, dinner wouldn’t be complete without a slice of Lindy’s chocolate cake or a chocolatey eclair filled with gorgeous, silky, cream. Saturday at the market, I would ask for a jam doughnut from the bakery. Oh, they were so good. Warm and chewy, oozing with strawberry jam and covered with glistening, crunchy sugar.

Dad always kept the pantry cupboard well stocked with Marks and Spencer’s Madeira cake and their fruit cake. Their cherry Madeira is one of my all time favourites (I am trying to recreate the cherry Madeira but my last attempts, though they taste really good, are not quite there yet. This is a work in progress. For those not familiar with a Madeira cake, it is very similar to the American pound cake. Madeira is a Portuguese wine and traditionally, a slice of this cake was served along with a glass of the Madeira wine, hence the name, Madeira cake.)

When I happened to accompany my Dad on a grocery trip, I always picked up a boxed Victoria Sandwich cake. That’s my favourite. It’s a plain sponge cake that has cream and jam sandwiched in between. It is even better when you make it from scratch, like I do now. Trace and the kids really enjoy it too. I think it is the simplicity of the cake that is so appealing. Just butter, eggs, sugar and flour basically. All work together to make one delicious cake.

School was the other place that had unforgettable desserts and cakes. My secondary school, Queen’s College, had the best school lunches. I still remember the steamed sponge puddings, all warm and gooey with lashings of creamy custard. The treacle tarts, rhubarb crumbles, jam tarts and chocolate cakes…oh my. These puddings or desserts are my comfort food. I don’t make dessert too often, for the obvious reasons of health, but when I do, it usually is one of my comfort puds. My family is not picky, as long as it is sweet and looks like dessert, they are happy.

Back to the carrot cake. Like I said, I first tried carrot cake when I moved to the US. Which is strange, because when I look at my Mom’s old cookbooks from London, carrot cake is in there. Why I never tried it there, I don’t know. Anyway, in Houston, my parents owned a restaurant called The English Tearoom. It was primarily a lunch and dessert place and we had a carrot cake on the menu. It was a customer favourite and one of Mom’s favourites too. She used to make it for the restaurant. I thought it was alright, it didn’t measure up to my comfort cakes though and so I rarely ate it. Over the years though, I have started making it and don’t mind it so much. My thing is, I don’t like it overly laden with spices. It’s an easy cake to make and my kids actually enjoy it so, I make it regularly now.

Last week, my younger two kids had Parent Teacher Conferences and the school PTO provides the teachers with dinner those nights. I signed up to make dessert. I decided on the carrot cake because its easy and everyone here seems to know it and like it. I ended up making two cakes because my husband had a pot luck at work and needed to take something. Well, he ended up getting sick that day with a fever so he never went in. We ate the other cake :). It was good too. Please excuse the unappealing aluminium pans I used to bake the cakes, but it was just simpler since they were going to be given away. I, at least wanted to have a picture or two to show you. I didn’t realise we would end up with a whole cake to enjoy later! The cake is frosted with a cream cheese icing and I like to cut the sweetness a little with some lemon juice and a tad bit of grated lemon zest. The addition of the lemon makes the icing nice and fresh tasting against the warm spices in the cake.

I know carrot cake recipes are everywhere and some really good cakes can be found at bakeries or restaurants, but this is an easy recipe and one you can make yourself. This recipe is an adaptation of our restaurant cake and the cake featured in the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook. I have made it easier also, by using a standard 9″ by 13″ pan (23cm by 33cm.) If you want a fancy cake, you can divide the mixture into two 9″ round pans and bake a layer cake with icing in the middle too. For a buffet, where I make a variety of desserts, I bake this cake in a big half sheet pan and have thin pieces of bite size cake. One tray goes a long way. So, it is a versatile recipe and everyone seems to like it. I hope you have a go and tell me what you think!

Carrot Cake

1 1/3 cup/ 210g all purpose (plain) flour

1 cup/ 230g sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon/ 7ml baking soda

1 teaspoon/ 5ml baking powder

1 teaspoon/ 5ml ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon/ 2ml ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon/ 2ml ground nutmeg or freshly grated

1/2 teaspoon/ 2ml salt

2/3 cups/ 160ml vegetable/ canola oil

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups/ 350ml carrots, finely shredded ( about 3 or 4 large carrots)