Carrot cake is a moist sponge of grated carrot and nuts under a cap of cream cheese frosting. The usual failures are a heavy, wet centre or a dry crumb. The reason is the carrot: its juice and quantity vary, and the batter ends up either too wet or too dry.
What it is made of
Top to bottom:
- Cream cheese frosting ×3 · 1.0 cm
The coating
- Carrot cake sponge ×3 · 2.5 cm
Three sponges and three layers of cream cheese frosting. The sponge is carrot, flour, sugar, oil, eggs and walnuts. Oil, not butter, keeps it moist into day two. The carrot gives up its juice, so the batter is moist without any milk.
An honest note: classic carrot cake often has cinnamon and other spices, and the frosting is cream cheese with butter. The builder does not list spices as an ingredient; you can add them to the dry mix to taste. The frosting here is cream cheese, as in the classic.
Order of work
Sponges: grate the carrots finely (a fine grater gives a tender crumb, a coarse one leaves strands). Toast the walnuts in the oven and chop them. Beat the eggs and sugar, add the oil, then the dry ingredients, then the carrots and nuts, mixing as little as possible. Fill the tins to two thirds and bake at about 170 to 180 °C until a skewer is dry. Cool in the tin 10 to 15 minutes, then on a rack. Do not wrap warm, or condensation forms. A cold sponge (4 to 10 hours in the fridge) slices cleanly.
Cream cheese frosting: soft butter with icing sugar until white, then cold cheese for 30 seconds. If it comes out runny, the usual reason is warm cheese, not a shortage of icing sugar.
Assembly:
- A rim of frosting around the edge, frosting inside.
- Stack the layers and press lightly.
- Final coat, then 1 to 2 hours in the cold.
Resting: a day. The sponge absorbs moisture and the spices open up.
What can go wrong
- Sticky inside. The carrots were wet and it was under-baked. If they are very wet, squeeze them lightly in a towel.
- Dry sponge. Too much flour or baked too long.
- Bitter nuts. Over-toasted, or old nuts that have gone rancid.
- Frosting runs. The cheese was warm. Chill it.
The verdict
The result depends on the carrots and on mixing: juice in the batter is moisture, and long mixing is rubber. The rest is simple.