AHi all,

I made a carrot cake using a recipe I found online. It turned out a bit bitter and not moist enough and not sweet enough. This is the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/carrot-cake-iii/

Based on the reviews I read, I made some adjustments so this is the recipe I followed which made the cake not sweet enough:

Ingredients • 4 eggs • 1 cup vegetable oil • 1 cup white sugar • 1 cup brown sugar • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 2.5 cups all-purpose flour • 2 teaspoons baking soda • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon • 3 cups grated carrots (4 carrots = 0.7 lb) • 1 cup chopped pecans • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F for dark color pans. 2. Line a 9x13 inch pan (or two 9” round pans) with parchment paper. 3. With an electric mixer mix eggs, oil, white sugar, brown sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla to the bowl for about a minute. 4. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. 5. With a spatula, stir in carrots, fold in pecans. Try not to over mix. 6. Pour into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes 7. Put pan on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. 8. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 9. I frosted it with store bought whipped cream cheese frosting.

Can someone please help me find my mistake(s) and bake a better cake next time? Basically it needs to be a lot sweeter and less bitter and more moist :)

Thanks in advance

here is my recipe and it is always really good, moist and sweet/spicy http://cakecentral.com/t/763513/finally-giving-up-my-carrot-cake-recipe

A lot of people tried t with pineapple too. I haven't tried it that way yet but they say it's very good that way as well...

AThanks BatterUpCake, the recipe I used is almost identical to yours...but mine turned out not sweet enough. Your recipe calls for applesauce and a tsp more vanilla extract...my cake needed more to be edible :(

Yours has more flour too I think. The applesauce will add more sweetness...

A

That's a good idea, I was also reading your thread and people mentioned they use crushed pineapple and coconut, too. No one mentioned how much of each we should put in your recipe.

When you mentioned the word "bitter" it made me think you have too much leavening - maybe either too much baking soda or baking powder.  And baking soda in a carrot cake can sometimes turn your carrots green - some kind of chemical reaction.

Also, if you are going to frost it with a cream cheese frosting, that brings a lot of sweetness to the party. :)

Liz

I have made Design Me A Cake's recipe for a couple of weddings, showers, etc.  It seems to be a favourite of my friends and family.  I make it exactly as the recipe except I don't always put the nuts in it because of nut allergies.  Edna has other recipes on her site that are excellent also.

A

Liz, No, the carrots were ok i think, the taste was too strong because of one of the spices, not sure which one...but the pieces without the frosting were not edible as they weren't sweet

A

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking they use one of those small cans of crushed pineapple, but don't know about the coconut...maybe 1/4 to 1/2, depending on your taste.  I think I'd toast the coconut first.  I posted a carrot cake recipe in the recipe section on this site.  That is a really good carrot cake recipe, too.  Nice and moist.  My family's favorite.  I'm going to try BatterUpCake's recipe, though, for a second choice.

I think the 1/2 cup less flour and added fruit (whether u use applesauce or pineaple) will make the difference in the sweetness. I want to try the pineapple but I get so many requests for my original recipe that I don't have a lot of time to try new things.

Neither recipe is exactly the same as Edna's (Design Me A Cake).  I tried three or four others and was not completely happy until I made this one.  It really is fabulous and it stacks very well.  Hope you will give it a try in your quest to find the perfect carrot cake.  :)

ASometimes some bitterness can come from the carrots themselves, especially if they are very large. Were there any green areas on the carrots? Did you peel them before grating? (My mom never used to peel carrots for carrot cake; she thought it was wasteful. I could always taste it.)

AThanks for all the great advice.

I didn't peel the carrots. Is this what you meant? http://www.designmeacake.com/carrotcakerecipe.html

Gerle, where can I find your recipe hun?

Thanks

Unless it's been removed, it should be in CC's recipe section.  I haven't looked, but if I don't find it there, I'll post it here.

I just checked and if you go to CC's recipe section, go down to the search box and type in "orange carrot cake", it's the first listing there.  It's a cake I've been doing for a long time and it's my family's favorite for carrot cake.  You use the entire orange -- rind and all.  You cut up the orange into quarters, remove the pith and seeds, leave the peel on the orange, and blend until it's like a puree.  Really, really good.

A

Could it be this one by any chance? http://cakecentral.com/a/orange-carrot-cake

Yep, that's the one.

Thanks to all of you nice members for trying to help me out. If I use a 8 oz pureed crushed pineapple, will I still need to add the applesauce? Here's the recipe I put together which should have all of your advice applied to it, please let me know if I need to change anything:

Carrot cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce OR 1 8 oz can drained crushed pineapple (small can)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 cups freshly grated carrots – taste each carrot before grating
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
   

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (for dark color pans) or 350 for light color pan.
 

2.    Spray and line two 9” round pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
 

3.    If using pineapple, puree the drained crushed pineapples.
 

4.    With a stand mixer mix eggs, oil, white sugar, brown sugar,
      crushed pineapples or applesauce and 2 teaspoons vanilla for about a minute.
 

5.    In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients: Flour, baking soda, baking
       powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
 

6.    Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue mixing.
 

7.    With a spatula, stir in carrots and pecans, do not over mix.
 

8.    Taste the batter to ensure it is sweet and spicy enough.
 

9.    Pour into prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes
       or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
 

10.Put the pans on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes then turn the cake out
       onto a wire rack and cool completely.
 

11.Frost the cooled cake and garnish with pecans.

i just ate a carrot that was a tad bitter--just saying--

Thanks much. Could you please take a look at my revised recipe above and advise if everything looks correct? Can I use both applesauce and crushed pineapple or it's either or? Thanks

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce OR 1 8 oz can drained crushed pineapple (small can)

Or it goes like this:

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 8 oz can drained crushed pineapple (small can)

Hi all!
 

I made the cake again, this time I used the revised recipe (above) so  used 3/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce, no pineapple and used two cups of white sugar and 2 cups of flour.
 

The cake was much better than the first time but it came out dense and heavy. How can I fix that problem? You know what I'm trying to say, it wasn't airy or light like the ones we buy from the grocery stores, it came out dense and heavy and the texture was too packed if that makes sense.

Just a note that I put the batter into two 9" round pans and baked it for 35-37 min, the edges were done at about 30 minutes but the middle was not set.
 

Any help would be much appreciated :-)

Still think you should try Edna's cake. http://www.designmeacake.com/carrotcakerecipe.html  She even has a tutorial on how to make it.

Thanks, I would make that next time. But this recipe I used got a lot of great reviews, just curious to find out why mine came out too heavy and dense in texture...the batter turned out wet, maybe I should have used a 9 x 13 pan instead of two 9" round ones. What do you guys think I did wrong?