Saturday, June 19, 2010

How We Broke In The Mixer With A "Carrot Cake" by Alton Brown


Making this Carrot Cake was so much fun and using the new "Green Apple" KitchenAid Mixer was a dream come true. We really liked the cake, it was very moist and flavorful. You can find the recipe here. The frosting was good, but we would have liked it a bit sweeter, by adding a little more sugar. We doubled the recipe, so it may have been a miscalculation on our part. But anyway it is a very good recipe and we really enjoyed making it.

The first thing I did was pour me a nice glass of wine,(I know what you are saying about the wine, but I really like this wine), I guess I'm a cheap date. Then I grabbed a beer from the frig for George, because he loves this beer.

Now we can get started.


Oh, I forgot to tell you that there was a "Twilight Zone" marathon going on all day and night, so it was a no-brainer, we just had to watch all the episodes. We had both TV's going.

This is the episode when the doll is talking to Telly Savalas. When I was a little girl it scared me half to death! I know some of you were not even born back then, but The Twilight Zone was a very popular series, and it didn't bother us that it was in black and white. You should watch it if you ever you get a chance. Anyway, back to the recipe.

The ingredients.


This recipe by Alton Brown is for one 9 inch cake pan. We doubled the recipe because we wanted a two-layer cake. The ingredients below are for one, so if you want a cake like we made, just double it.

The Cake
  • Unsalted butter, for the pan
  • 12 ounces, approximately 2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
  • 12 ounces grated carrots, medium grate, approximately 6 medium
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 10 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/3 cups
  • 2 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup firmly packed
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 ounces plain yogurt
  • 6 ounces vegetable oil
  • Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Shred your carrots like this in a large bowl and set aside.

Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a mixer bowl and mix on low for until combined.

Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

In the bowl of the mixer combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.


Mix it. Lookin good.......


Mix some more, until it looks like this. With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Better.....

Now start adding the carrots and flour in a cup at a time.



Mix until combined, and then pour into your cake pans.

Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes. Stick a toothpick in the middle of the cake and when the toothpick comes out clean its done.

Have another glass of wine or bottle of beer and wait for the cakes to cool.

The Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 ounces powdered sugar, sifted, approximately 2 cups

Note: Remember, we doubled it.


In the bowl of the mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar a little at a time and beat until smooth. Give it a taste for sweetness, you can add more powdered sugar if you want it sweeter.

Don't forget to remove the parchment paper.....lol

Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely. You can see George in the background starting to layer the lasagna.
(That recipe is "Coming Soon", let's get back to "Now Playing".)


Now presenting, "A Very Good Carrot Cake" thanks to Mr. Brown, and George, of course.






Enjoy.................

I Wish You Love and A Little Sweetness in Your Life,
Joyce


12 comments:

  1. I see Lasagna was on the menu too which I love and made for Christmas dinner. Now the cake sounds and looks good but I have a question for you. Why do they have you lower the temp while cooking the cake? Any idea? Does the recipe say why? Just curious here. I am having company next week and one of the gals loves this cake so I may make your recipe.
    Joyce

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  2. The cake looks phenomenal.. its one of my favorites, I ussually make Barefoot Contessa version. That wine is a favorite of my mother in laws as well, it is quite good!!

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  3. That cake looks great Joyce! I was a fan of Twilight Zone too and I remember that episode! Creepy. You got some tv's going on in that house girl, that one on your wall is HUGE and that other one looks like it's floating!! I'm too chicken to mount mine.

    You are gonna love having a Kitchen Aid Joyce. It just makes an easy job of so many things - do bread next, you won't believe how EASY doing bread will be now. Enjoy!

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  4. I loved The Twlight Zone too and remember that scary talking doll!

    I am going to try that carrot cake recipe. It sounds delicious. I have a recipe I've used for years but I like the idea of the yogurt in this one.

    Thanks for the recipe.
    Pam

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  5. heck, you are right up my alley....booze, cake and twilight zone. and carrot cake is college girls fav. we are on our way over for a slice.

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  6. l like all your siff and it is so good that i want to go to your house and eat the siff....love nishelle :) :) :)

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  7. hey...do you know that nishelle want's blog she txt me and said "if she could get a blog" and i said "i will see...love ann

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  8. That cake is irrestistable!!! I will have to make that as my next carrot cake! I could just lick off the frosting it looks that good! Love the color of your mixer!!!

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  9. Your carrot cake looks AMAZING!!! I love all the tutorial pictures!

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  10. First: oh am singing odes to that scrumptious cake - love the step-by-step and covet the finished product.
    Second: Twilight Zone: Yes! that episode made me put away all my dolls...

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  11. What a deliciously moist looking cake (love all the photos).

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  12. The cake looks great...I love carrot cake and to think I wouldn't eat them when I was younger. I make on in Oct and it didn't turn out as good because I used the precut carrotts!! I remember the Twilight Zone...I would love to watch it again.

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