Thursday, November 11, 2010

Best carrot cake, seriously

My current favorite carrot cake recipe (from Smitten Kitchen). No need to modify anything - it's perfect as it stands. As Deb suggests, do use the box grater rather than the food processor to do the carrots, even if it is tedious. I've made these as cupcakes and they were wonderful but I had quite a bit of batter left over. They will rise, so don't overfill the cups (like I did). This time around I wanted a cake and the recipe perfectly filled two 9 inch rounds.

carrot cake, vintage stand
{carrot cake, vintage stand}

I topped it with crushed walnuts, the national sign for carrot cake. You can free hand the circle, of course. But that always makes me nervous, so I take a rather more obsessive route. 

pattern
{pattern}

Cut out a stencil, lay it lightly on your (refrigerated*) frosted cake, top with walnuts.

carrot cake topping
{carrot cake topping}

Remove the stencil gently and fill in the two little bars by hand. It's like cake decorating for pre-schoolers!

carrot cake top
{carrot cake top}

P.S. I get that sort of rustic frosting finish by using an offset spatula. A million times easier than trying to use a regular knife, truly.

* If the frosting is chilled, then your stencil is less likely to stick to it and cause a mess. Of course, the walnuts are also less likely to adhere, but you can press them down gently with your fingers after you take off the stencil.

23 comments:

  1. What a beautiful cake Rachel! Now I can't wait to make one. I'm kind of always on the lookout for a better carrot cake recipe...which I'm sure makes my life sound totally interesting. :) Thanks for sharing and for the clever circle walnut idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. carrot cake is my absolute favorite (well, after chocolate, but i figure that's a given). thanks for the great recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. this looks amazing. I would love a bite :) beautiful cake Rachel !!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yum! carrot cake is my absolute favourite, yours looks delicious, I love your crushed walnut circle topping :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. yum. i am definitely trying this for thanksgiving dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  6. um, STUNNING. and delicious looking. win win.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This cake looks INSANELY delicious! I want some! Also, beautiful shots!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This was our wedding cake! A friend offered to fancy it up for us. It was so delicious, there was none left at the end of the night.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This cake looks AMAZING. And I love carrot cake!! I love your stencil idea.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This looks lovely! I am also a bit obsessive about how my baked goods look, and have found myself using stencils and the like to achieve clean lines, though I'm always hesitant to admit it...

    ReplyDelete
  11. beautiful, rachel. i always adore your cakes!! (couldn't agree more about the box grater for carrots)

    ReplyDelete
  12. This cake looks gorgeous and delicious! Using a stencil is a fantastic idea, so clever. I haven't had carrot cake in far too long!

    ReplyDelete
  13. YUM! I think the stencil is a really good idea. I would have never thought of that :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the stencil idea! Now I am totally making a carrot cake for a party on Sunday. I also love the pink cake stand. Very pretty! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ok the stencils just put that cake over the top adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Looks very delicious!!! :P

    -Mia
    http://miafied.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. oh, nothing beats carrot cake. yours looks lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love this idea with the stencil, such a pretty cake! Carrot cake is one of my favorites, I will have to check out the Smitten Kitchen recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I know I've made this before and I must have a half dozen cakes on my 'to-bake' list, but now all I can think about is carrot cake! Yum!

    ReplyDelete

Trying captchas this time - better or worse than having to log in to comment? Let me know! Sorry for all the hoops but the spam has been terrible lately!