 A slice of carrot cake with frosting | |
| Type | sheet cake, layer cake, cupcake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Disputed; either England, France, Switzerland or Denmark |
| Region or state | Western Europe |
| Main ingredients | Flour, eggs, sugar, carrots, and baking powder |
| Variations | Hazelnuts, lemon, kirsch, [1] cinnamon, almonds, walnuts |
Carrot cake (also known as passion cake) is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter.
The origins of carrot cake are disputed. Published in 1591, there is an English recipe for "pudding in a Carret[ sic ] root" [2] that is essentially a carrot stuffed with meat, but it includes many elements common to the modern dessert: shortening, cream, eggs, raisins, sweetener (dates and sugar), spices (clove and mace), scraped carrot, and breadcrumbs (in place of flour). Many food historians believe carrot cake originated from such carrot puddings eaten by Europeans in the Middle Ages, when sugar and sweeteners were expensive and many people used carrots as a substitute for sugar. [3]
Variations of the carrot pudding evolved to include baking with a crust (as pumpkin pie), steamed with a sauce, or molded in pans (as plum pudding) with icing. [3]
In volume two of L'art du cuisinier (1814), Antoine Beauvilliers, former chef to Louis XVI, [4] included a recipe for a "Gâteau de Carottes", [5] which was popular enough to be copied verbatim in competitors' cookbooks. [6] [7] In 1824, Beauvilliers had published in London an English version of his cookbook which includes a recipe for "Carrot Cakes" in a literal translation of his earlier recipe. [8] [9]
Another 19th-century recipe comes from the housekeeping school of Kaiseraugst (Canton of Aargau, Switzerland). [10] According to the Culinary Heritage of Switzerland, it is one of the most popular cakes in Switzerland, especially for the birthdays of children. [10]
The popularity of carrot cake was revived in the United Kingdom because of the rationing during the Second World War and also because of the promotion of carrot consumption by the government. [11] [12]
Brazilian Bolo de cenoura (lit. 'carrot cake') is a fluffy and moist cake that is commonly served with a chocolate ganache topping. As opposed to other Brazilian desserts that originated with the Portuguese, Bolo de cenoura is much more recent and only began appearing in Brazilian cookbooks in the 1960s. The inspiration behind Bolo de cenoura comes from the American recipe for carrot cake. [13]
February 3 is National carrot cake day in Brazil. [14]
Swiss Rüeblitorte features almonds and hazelnuts and is often covered in glacé icing containing kirsch and topped with decorative carrots made from marzipan. [1]
Modern UK and US recipes typically feature a white cream cheese frosting. Sometimes nuts such as walnuts or pecans are added into the cake batter, as well as spices such as cinnamon, ginger and ground mixed spice. Toasting pecans and using brown sugar can add extra flavor and moisture. [15] Fruit including pineapple, raisins and shredded coconut can also be used to add sweetness.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked.
A croquembouche or croque-en-bouche is a French dessert consisting of choux pastry puffs piled into a cone and bound with threads of caramel. In Italy and France, it is often served at weddings, baptisms and first communions.
Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins.
A mille-feuille, also known by the names Napoleon in North America, vanilla slice in the United Kingdom, and custard slice, is a French dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by Marie-Antoine Carême.
A layer cake or sandwich cake is a cake consisting of multiple stacked sheets of cake, held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves. Most cake recipes can be adapted for layer cakes; butter cakes and sponge cakes are common choices. Frequently, the cake is covered with icing, but sometimes, the sides are left undecorated, so that the filling and the number of layers are visible.
Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both. Chocolate cake is made with chocolate. It can also include other ingredients. These include fudge, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
A rum cake or black cake is a type of dessert cake which contains rum. In most of the Caribbean, rum cakes are a traditional holiday season dessert, descended from the holiday puddings. Traditionally, dried fruit is soaked in rum for months and then added to dough prepared with sugar which has been caramelized by boiling in water. The result, also known as "black cake", is similar to a fruitcake, with a lighter texture.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Carrot pudding is a dish traditional to a wide range of cultures around the world. It can be served either as a savoury pudding or as a sweet dessert.
Muhallebi is a milk pudding commonly made with rice, sugar, milk and either rice flour, starch or semolina, popular as a dessert in the Turkey and Middle East. While the dessert is called Muhallebi in Turkey and Iraq, the Egyptian variant is called mahalabia, the levantine variant is called mahalabiyeh.
Applesauce cake is a dessert cake prepared using apple sauce, flour and sugar as primary ingredients. Various spices are typically used, and it tends to be a moist cake. Several additional ingredients may also be used in its preparation, and it is sometimes prepared and served as a coffee cake. The cake dates back to early colonial times in the United States. National Applesauce Cake Day occurs annually on June 6 in the U.S.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
Watergate cake is a pistachio cake popular in the U.S. which shares its name with the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, although the name's origin is not clear. The cake pre-dates Watergate salad, a dessert made with similar ingredients including pistachio pudding.
| Culinary usage | |
|---|---|
| Related topics | |
