Best Carrot Cake Recipe

If you are looking for the Best Carrot Cake Recipe, look no further. Make this classic crowd-pleaser for your next party or get-together and you may not have any leftovers. (So you should probably make two, and then you can continue to enjoy it long after your party ends!)

Carrot cake is a cake that contains carrots, which are mixed into the batter. The carrot softens during the cooking process and the cake usually has a soft, dense texture as a result. Carrots have actually been used in sweet cakes since the medieval period. Sweeteners were both scarce and expensive and carrots, which contain more sugar than any other vegetable aside from the sugar beet, were easier to come by and so, were used to make sweet desserts. The origin of the carrot cake, like many cakes and other baked goods, is disputed. Although there are claims that carrot cake dates back to 1827, the oldest known recipe dates from 1892 from a book of the housekeeping school of Kaiseraugst (in Switzerland). Carrot cakes are one of the most popular cakes in Switzerland, especially for children's birthdays. The popularity of the carrot cake was most likely revived in Great Britain during the Second World War due to rationing. They didn't become a popular or commonly available dessert in cafes and restaurants in the United States until the 1960's however.Other commonly added ingredients include pineapple, raisins, cinnamon, nuts and kirsch (a clear, colorless fruit brandy traditionally made from the double distillation of Morello cherries; it is not a sweet taste but a more refined taste with subtle flavors of cherry and an almost slightly bitter-almond taste). This recipe calls for pineapple as well as cinnamon, coconut and chopped pecans or walnuts. Chopped walnuts are the more traditional addition to a carrot cake

What carrot cake is complete without cream cheese icing? Although the cake may be eaten plain, it is commonly glazed or topped with white icing or cream cheese icing (made of sugar, butter and cream cheese). Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting fresh cheese with a high fat content (so, although this is a �veggie� cake, it's not a diet cake!), containing at least 33% milk fat in the United States. The addition of butter (margarine or even shortening) in cream cheese icing may sound a little odd, but the butter helps lighten and soften the cream cheese and makes it easier to spread. If done right, you will not taste the butter.

This carrot cake recipe is a layered cake and makes 3 (9-inch) round cake pans. It also calls for the cake pans to be lined with wax paper (also known as paraffin paper), which is a moisture-proof paper. Generally wax paper is not recommended for baking use as it can smoke, so if you have not cooked with wax paper before, perhaps just try lightly greasing and flouring the pans to avoid your cake sticking to the sides.

This really is the best carrot cake recipe. It includes both buttermilk glaze and cream cheese frosting, so you may find it a little bit sweeter than most other recipes. But that's part of what makes it so delicious!