Our Best-Loved Carrot Cake Recipe Is a BHG Fan-Favorite (2024)

FAQs

Is butter or oil better for carrot cake? ›

Butter also gives them flavor. But for cakes like chocolate cake and carrot cake that have flavor from other ingredients, I find flavorless oil is the best choice. Applesauce: To prevent the cake from tasting too moist (wet) and oily, I add some applesauce. You could even use crushed pineapple, too!

The real stars of carrot cake are the spices. Cinnamon is always invited to the party, but which other friends come with is completely up to the baker. Nutmeg plays well, cardamom too. Try ginger or even turmeric, which will help up the orange color of the batter.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

This is because too much batter in one cake tin may result in the weight of the batter being too much for the cake to support, causing the cake to collapse and sink in the middle as it bakes. This is especially true for cake recipes which have a more softer, delicate structure to them, which many of my cake recipes do.

Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add your canola oil and melted butter and stir well (batter will be pretty stiff and thick at this point, I usually use an electric mixer or my stand mixer to combine everything nicely).

Seriously though, if using only natural carrots, it is hard to get a significant carroty taste in a cake, mainly because 1) carrots don't have a very strong taste, 2) some of the taste is lost with cooking, and 3) the native texture and taste of a cake overwhelm whatever taste is remaining in the carrots.

Carrot cake isn't really any less healthy than a white cake or a chocolate cake. Arguably, it's slightly more healthy because of the addition of carrots and sometimes pineapple. However, it does contain a cup of oil and two cups of sugar, and that's just in the cake.

The key to getting an intense carrot flavor in my cake is using two types of carrots: a caramelized carrot puree and finely shredded carrots. Roasted and pureed carrots make this cake intensely carrot flavored. Carrots are a natural source of sugar, and roasting them at a high temperature caramelizes the sugars within.

However, if you find your carrot cake to be a little too bland, the first solution should be to up the number of spices you're using or try a little more of a neutral-flavored ingredient like white sugar that will bring out the taste of carrots instead of overpowering them.

How fine should carrots be grated for carrot cake? ›

It's true that carrots are the star of the show, but aim for finely grated pieces rather than chunky. The finer you grate the carrots, the more evenly they will be distributed throughout the cake (for the perfect texture), and the more evenly the cake and the carrots will bake.

Also, make sure that all of the ingredients are at room temperature as if the eggs and carrots are fridge cold then the ingredients in the batter will not mix together as well and the cake will be heavier.

The idea behind this test is you can insert a toothpick or paring knife into the center of the cake to see if the crumb has set. If the tester comes out clean, it's done. If it comes out gummy or with crumbs clinging to it, the cake needs more time in the oven.

* The cake pan could be overfull. A full cake pan takes a lot longer to cook, and you can very easily end up with a cake that is both under, and over cooked.

Butter is only 70-80% fat and the rest is water and butter solids. Using oil in cakes reduces the amount of water in the mixture and can mean a moister cake with a tender crumb.

Most cake mixes call for oil, but butter will bring in amazing flavor. To substitute butter for oil in baking just melt the butter, measure it, let it cool, and add it as you would the oil. Compared to oil, butter will create a cake with a firmer, cakeier texture.

If you were to use exclusively oil, the cake would turn out much denser than you may have intended. If you're unsure, it's safest to use a 50/50 combination of butter and oil instead of replacing the butter completely.

Cake mixes almost always call for vegetable oil as their fat; needless to say, butter has a lot more flavor than vegetable oil, and it makes for a much better texture. Just replace the oil with an equal amount of melted butter, and you'll get a drastically better cake with a more complex flavor.