hey all,

So i have a carrot cake recipe and its pretty good, but i've always felt it could be better...When i get a chance here and there i try to improve on a handful of receipes that i think need sprucing and this is one of them.  however, i have recently gotten a huge number of requests for carrot cake grooms cakes out of the blue, and i feel like now is the time for me to have that perfect carrot cake..

So i know i could just look through the recipe section, but of course every recipe is going to claim to be the best :)  can you all please give me your honest inputs on how to achieve that perfect dense, moist carrot cake? i already have a perfect CCBC, i just need that perfect cake :)

thanks so much! i trust all your inputs!

I would go to allrecipes.com, search for "carrot cake," and try one (or more)  with 5 stars (sort results by "rating").

AI would recommend to start baking. I am more than happy to give input but I worked hard on my carrot cake recipe.

AHi there, No need to worry. I believe in paying it forward : ).

Southern living has an excellent carrot cake recupe. I've made it several times and everyone loved it.

http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/best-carrot-cake-10000000257583/

Hope this helps!!

AGoogle Shirley corriher's recipe. It's delicious! I didn't care for the taste of toasted walnuts though, so I skip that step.

AThanks for the suggestions! Ill check those out! And as a side note...I never copy a recipe, and I won't even in this case. the most I would do if I didn't create the recipe myself is just take suggestions from anothers recipe ie. try oil instead of butter, toasted nuts instead of plain, finely shredded instead of coarsely, soda and powder instead of just one or the other. FYI.

thanks again!

I would look for ones that use carrot baby food as part of the ingredients.  Adds great color and flavor.  I used a highly recommended recipe and you still couldn't taste the carrot.  Then I made my Grandm'as old carrot bar recipe that used carrots and carrot baby food.  When I was reviewing a lot of recipes it turned out that Grandma's old recipe happened to be pretty much like America's test kitchen recipe with the addition of baby food.  Try this http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/simple-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe-7640.aspx  but instead of using a pound of carrots, use 8 oz carrots plus 4 jars of 4 oz carrot baby food.  YUMMY!!

Hmmm, here it is again.  http://www.cooking.com/recipes-and-more/recipes/simple-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe-7640.aspx

It is at cooking.com, called simple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  You should be able to find it that way also if the link isn't working right.

My recipes were a graduation gift to me, that included signing a contract about not sharing them :P

However, mine includes ginger and mango, rum soaked currants, (instead of raisins), very finely grated coconut and ground pecans. The ginger is a must in my opinion, not much, just enough to add a hint of the flavour.

I also use pureed carrots as well as grated.

My advice is start with a well rated recipe you find online, and just start playing with it. When I am creating a recipe, I start with my basic cake, split it into 6 small batches and do something different to each one.

A

I don't think everything must be shared on the Internet. It doesn't make things "special" anymore. I am happy to share recipes with friends but I won't share everything online

Actually, my carrot cake is the best in the world!

First, you need to decide what camp you're in.  Do you like all the "extras" like pineapple, coconut, and raisins?  Or do you prefer a strictly carrot cake with maybe some nuts?  I personally don't like any other fruit or vegetable in my carrot cake except for carrots. 

I use a medium shredded carrot because I like to see the pieces in the cake.  I find if they are shredded too finely, they will melt away and barely be noticeable.  I have never, nor would I ever use baby food (because to me it looks too much like a pumpkin cake, and I think people expect to see the shreds of carrot).  If I'm doing it as a decorated cake, I will add toasted nuts (either walnuts or pecans) to the batter.  I always toast my nuts.  If the cake isn't being decorated, and we're just having it as a dessert cake, my favorite thing to do is to cook pecan halves on the stove with sugar and spices until they caramelize (you have to cook it past where the sugar looks sandy, until the nuts get coated with caramel) .  Then after they cool I put them in the processor to break them up, and edge the cake with them.  When people have the carrot cake with the nut edge, they don't want it any other way.  It is so freaking incredible with the cream cheese icing.  I am actually doing one next week for a birthday.

I also tend to reduce oil in the recipe by at least 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  I check the reviews first to see what others have done. 

AI usually offer people a choice of nuts and raisins--either, neither or both. I don't do any other add-ins unless I was making it for myself or a family member whose tastes I know better. I think the orange and allspice in Shirley's recipe add a lot of interest, but I can see how it's not a purist's recipe. It works great around the holidays. Maybe tone down the spices at other times of year?

I can't stand raisins in most anything, so obviously I leave them out.  If I use nuts in the batter I chop them very fine.  Yes I use cinnamon with a hint of cloves.  There are many people who use coconut and pineapple in their carrot cakes.  It's not wrong, it's just what they like.  Perfect is subjective. 

nuts and raisins can also interfere with cutting slices, although the carrot bits do too.   When I first started baking more I really got hung up on finding the PERFECT recipe for cream cheese icing, etc.  I researched and researched to find the perfect one.  It took me a bit to realize that there isn't one perfect recipe, each person has different preferences and biases and expectations.  I don't think there is any one cake or icing recipe that will please everyone.  No point in trying, really because it just doesn't exist. 

AI have used the Rachel ray recipe on the food network website. I pulse the night and carrots in a food processor to get rid of stringyness which I have heard many people do not like. The changes I did make were to up the temp by 25 degrees and to parchment line the bottom of the pan. Also I baked it in 11 inch cake pan for 1 hour and 20 minutes instead of 3 smaller pans. Froze 2 of these, sliced them in half and filled and stacked

Look up Southern Living Carrot Cake with Buttermilk glaze.  It's a 3-part recipe, but absolutely Fabulous.  It has everything in it, including coconut, pineapple and pecans or walnuts.  Never met anyone who didn't love this cake!