Mar 9, 2007

Carrot cake for my bunny

When I had seen the theme for this month’s MM, I had smiled to myself. I wanted to bake a cake for my hubby’s birthday, which was on 7th March. It was the perfect opportunity – to bake a cake for him and participate in the MM. Some weeks back, our friend S had baked a superb carrot cake for a potluck. I was greatly impressed. Unlike my baking experiments in which I got a ready made cake mix from the store, this guy had baked this delicious cake from scratch. For those who have not tried carrot cake or those who have been put off by it, let me tell you that it tastes wonderful. This cake is my contribution to Meeta’s Monthly Mingle.

I was on the lookout for a decent carrot cake recipe. A Google search for “Carrot cake recipe” yielded many results out of which I short listed this. I was all set to start baking on the afternoon on 6th March.

1.The first and most painstaking task is carrot shredding. The recipe calls for using baby carrots and though I knew how difficult that would be; I wanted no compromises in this cake. You have to be really careful while shredding the carrots; I almost grated my fingers once or twice. You will need almost a whole bag of baby carrots.

2.Next combine the oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs and beat well. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix well. The batter is super stiff at this point, so much so that you can hardly mix it.

3.Pineapple adds moisture and sweetness to this cake. Open the can of crushed pineapple. Add the shredded carrots, drained pineapple, and 1/2 cup walnuts to the cake mix and mix well. The batter will start to soften.

4.Apply butter on all sides of the baking pan. Sprinkle some all-purpose flour in the pan. Pour the batter in the pan and level it. The amounts of ingredients mentioned in the recipe were suitable for a 13*9 inch pan. I was using a 9*9 inch pan and used up the remaining batter to make 12 cupcakes. This is how the batter looks before baking:


5.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6.Bake the cake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Insert a knife in the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready to be devoured. Cool the cake for 10-15 minutes.

7.You can make cream cheese frosting. I used store bought Vanilla Frosting. Apply the frosting evenly on all sides of your cake.I chopped some carrot pieces and used them for decoration. The cake looks kind of made by a school girl:) Refrigerate the cake.







Verdict: Hubby cut the cake at 12 o’clock. Happy Birthday, Hubby! It was delicious and savory. The batter tasted too sweet on tasting, but the baked cake could have used a little bit more sugar. There is no bitter taste of all the carrots and the frosting makes the cake even more delicious. The pineapple and walnuts added an extra flavor to the cake, so don’t miss out on the pineapple. The entire baking and frosting process took around 3 hours. We sent the cupcakes to our dear friends, who also loved them.

7 comments:

Aahaar Vihaar said...

Hi Swaps,
What a wonderful way to wish your hubby for his birthday!!! Recipe and pictures looks great.

Sharmi said...

Hi Swaps,
no not a bengali dear!! Basically andrite. but have been to almost all place in India as I love travelling.

sharmi

Richa said...

Hi Swapna, just saw ur comment on my blog and rushed here to meet a fellow Matungite' !!!
So nice to meet you! so when was the last time you visited matunga? I was there in Jan 06. I love puran poli and your post is beautiful.

Keep smiling

Sia said...

hi swapna,
just saw ur comment in my blog n followed the trail. boy!!! looks like u have sweet tooth:) loved ur post on puran poori.
belated b'day wishes to ur hubby. i am sure he must have had gr8 b'day with yummy carrot cake:)
cheers

swapna susarla said...

hi swapna
the carrot cake is looking great!!hope u have a great day dear!!

bee said...

cakes and puran polis. you gjuys have a sweet tooth. all of it looks yummy.

bee

Meeta K. Wolff said...

thank you for your entry to the MM. The cake looks great.