I never really got the whole carrot cake concept.Not only did I not get it but it profoundly annoyed me:As far as I'm concerned, desserts are a sacred part of the culinary world.So Why ruin them with a vegetable?I'm not sure you understand how serious the matter is:it starts with carrot cake and ends with broccoli mousse, or pea ice cream G-d forbid.Desserts are desserts-they contain chocolate, caramel,fruit and things like that and vegetables are part of soups,salads,quiches...okay you can put them in your main course but don't touch the !dessert
Ok,you get the idea-I wasn't a big fan of carrot cake
Until recently
Then I found a recipe for carrot kugel-sounds harmless,right?I couldn't find any ideological reason not to make it but one bite made it very clear that a) this was darn good and b)This was no kugel.Geesh, it's got a whole cup of sugar and vanilla extract.Let's come clean:it's cake,and a really good one at that
Don't get me wrong:I really tried to fight it.Every time I served it I proudly called it a kugel, and felt very good about myself(hey, I'm eating vegetables) but there comes a time when you have to be honest with yourself:it's a cake, nothing is going to change that.You are more than welcome to call it a kugel (and feel really heimish by doing so) but if you want to serve a cake and get some bonus points on it having a little more nutritional value than chocolate and whipped cream,this recipe is for you.
Now for the one million dollar question:why is this cake different from all the other zillion carrot cake recipes?Here's the secret:most carrot cakes contain grated carrots,and that can sometimes result in a bitterness that even a colossal amount of sugar can't always make up for.For this cake, instead of grating the carrots you cut them up and cook them in boiling water until they're really soft and then you mash them.So simple and so brilliant. The recipe is from "the kosher Palette" but I tweaked it a little.
Ingredients:
four large carrots, peeled and sliced
oil spray-unless you're using a silicone pan
one cup of flour
half a cup of packed brown sugar
half a cup of white sugar
teaspoon and a half of baking powder
one cup of canola oiltwo eggs
one teaspoon of vanilla extract
Cook the carrots in lots of boiling water until they are really soft.Drain them and mash in a bowl with a potato masher or a mixer(the batter comes out slightlysmoother with a mixer but that means more dishes.It's up to you).Preheat oven to 180 celcius or 350 fahrenheit and spray pan with oil spray.Add the rest of the ingredients to the carrots.Don't overmix!you want little pieces of carrots for texture.Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
In case you were wondering, I have since heard of zucchini cake and tomato juice cake
Do you really want to hear what I think of them?
heard of other vegetable cakes?I feel your pain.Talk to me about it
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