Last Sunday was a really hot day. A little movement and you’ll get all sweat. And yes, I did baked a couple of loaf of carrot cake. What’s really agonizing baking in this time of the year is the hot environment and the heat from the oven. But what determined me to bake this carrot cake is simply my love for sweets. Every after meal, I just want to bite on something sweet and if a proper dessert is not available, well, a small pack of sandwich biscuit will do.
What comforted me during baking these loafs of sweet treats was the aroma it gave while it was baking. The oven could not contain the intense aroma coming from the spices from the carrot cake and you could clearly smell the cloves and cinnamon bursting from your kitchen. It is tempting to open the oven from time to time (yes I’m guilty of it) just to smell that delicious aroma but please refrain from doing so as the heat will escape and prolong the baking process.
The original recipe of this carrot cake is from Joy of Baking. I tweaked the recipe to add some crushed pineapples, all spice and cloves. Also, I want my carrot cake a little bit brown so I substituted half of the white sugar with same amount of brown sugar and the result is how I wanted it to be.
Ingredients
2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon Powder
1/2 teaspoon All Spice Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cloves
4 pieces Eggs
3/4 cup White Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
500 grams Shredded Carrot
400 grams Coarsely Chopped Pineapple
200 grams Coarsely Chopped Walnuts tossed with 1 Tablespoon of Flour
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, all spice and cloves and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until frothy and add the sugars. Beat until the mixture is pale yellow in color.
3. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture, turning the mixer on every after addition to incorporate the flour mixture.
5. Add carrots and pineapple and mix well.
6. Fold in the walnuts using a spatula.
7. Transfer to 2 loaf pan filling up to 3/4 of the baking pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
HOW DOES IT TASTE?
The carrot cake loaf is super moist and I find the coarsely chopped pineapple adds some bite while the walnuts gives crunchy texture to the cake. The smell of the carrot cake is divine. I love the exploding aroma of sweetness, cinnamon and cloves. A bite of the cake will give you a just right amount of sweetness (perfect for the elderly), a nice flavor combination of brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, a hint of cloves and a subtle taste of the all spice. Though the carrot cake is soft and moist, I easily got full upon eating a slice or two of the cake. Maybe, because the cake was overloaded with ingredients.
