Carrot Cake

Years ago, I cut out an article in one of my cooking magazines about cake and ratios. It talked about the ratios: of sugar = flour and eggs = butter... as well as eggs + liquid = sugar. It was a lovely article and I was thirsty for more information. About a year ago, at a party, I met the sister-in-law of a friend here who is a food scientist. How cool is that? She works at Mars and has to work with caramel and nougat extruders. Not to mention the chocolate. Can you imagine walking into work every day to the smell of chocolate? She recommended a cooking textbook: McGee's Food and Cooking and so I bought it. Granted, it is huge, so I have not yet read the whole thing. But whenever I pick it up, I want to read the rest! Can you imagine being excited about a text book? It is amazing.

But I digress. This post is about Carrot Cake, so I will bring it on. Using only these ratios I began to fiddle around with a carrot cake recipe.  I had the Belimar book's Carrot Bundt cake recipe to start with and one from my aunt. It really only took me a few tries (I got lucky!) and I had a hunch that I was onto something.

If you are hoping for cupcakes, half of this recipe makes about 15 muffins/cupcakes (bake for 25 minutes). (Don't get me started on the difference between a muffin and a cupcake.)

Carrot Cake
400 g (3 and 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour (use the Zeeuwse Bloem in Nederland)
200 g (1 cup) sugar (fijn suiker)
220 g (1 cup) brown sugar (light bastard suiker)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp all-spice (or 1/8 tsp cloves)
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
2 egg yolks (37 g)
5 whole eggs (270 g)
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil (300 ml)
2/3 cup buttermilk (150 ml karne melk)
2 cups shredded carrots (275 g)
1 cup toasted walnuts (120g)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans and line with parchment. Grease and flour the parchment.
2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour through salt)
3. Beat eggs lightly, add oil, buttermilk and mix until combined. Fold in dry ingredients. Fold in carrots and walnuts.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pans and spread evenly. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, checking after 30 min using the toothpick test (does it come out clean) and the press-test (lightly touch the center of the cake with your finger and see if it springs back. If it does not spring back, it is not done)
5. Run a knife around the edges of the cakes. Wait about 10 minutes and then turn cakes out onto a wire rack. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting. I used the Cooks Country Cream Cheese frosting recipe.

The first time I made this cake was for my friend Viktorija's birthday. I followed advice from Hello Cupcake and made sunflowers from oreos.

Another time I made this cake was for my husband's birthday, and I spelled his name with raisins on the top as the decoration. A bit low-brow compared to the sunflowers, no? But he just wanted to eat the cake! And it was good.

Viktorija requested carrot cake for her birthday again this year and so I obliged. And I even remembered to take a photo of the inside of the cake.

Where oh where is the cereal here?

Brought from the USA

We've been in the Netherlands for 3 (!) years now and so I've had to make-do with products I find here (for the most part... I will admit to some addictions to things like Tom's of Maine toothpaste and still being unable to find unscented deodorant here.) In the Netherlands, there are very few choices of cereal. Seventeen varieties of Special K and a few others is about it. One of the cereals I miss most is Raisin Bran Crunch. It has just the right amount of crunchy-ness, a generous helping of raisins, and even decent bran content. Since the airlines implemented the recent fee increase for the second checked bag (well, at one point, long ago, you could take two bags on an international flight for no charge. Then it was $50 for the second bag. Now it is $70 or more, depending on the airline... argh), it makes more sense to try to create my favorite things here rather than import them.  For Raisin Bran Crunch, here is my 'recipe':
Pour Bran Flakes into bowl about 1/2 full. Add Special "K" and Frosties(equivalent to Frosted Flakes in the USA), in equal portions to make up the other half. Sprinkle bits of muesli and tons of raisins. Voila! You have a close approximation of Raisin Bran Crunch! And it only took you 5 products in the Netherlands!

 

It sounds ridiculous, but I miss cereal so much. I probably should not admit this online, but when we drive to Belgium and hit Carrefour I stock up on things like Golden Grahams, *almost like honey nut* Nestle Cheerios, and other sugar cereals. I know I shouldn't, but when I see things I can't get here in the Netherlands, it is a total impulse buy. On a related note, when we are in the USA and near a Dunkin Donuts, we have to stop and indulge. When we lived in the USA we rarely went to Dunkin Donuts! But now that we can't get it, we crave it!

Speaking of cereal, I'd like to end this post with a review of Cheerios-like cereals. Above, you see my favorite, Honey Nut Cheerios(imported) with the closest approximation here in my grocery-shopping area of Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany), Nestle Cheerios. If you look closely, you can actually see the coating of sugar on the Nestle Cheerios, which makes sense since they are quite crunchy. The HN Cheerios even seem to have more holes (air pockets?) which makes them less crunchy and results in a lovely 'pop' in your mouth. Don't get me started about the Dutch version of Cheerios, called "Loops". 

The only way to describe Loops is that they are rocks masquerading as food. If I thought the Nestle Cheerios were 'crunchy' then the Loops are 'tooth-breakers'. Additionally, it is impossible to find cereal for kids here that has a low sugar level like regular Cheerios. When my daughter was little, I imported regular Cheerios with regularity because I just couldn't imagine a 12 month old not eating Cheerios! Unfortunately, now that she is two years old, she finally noticed the difference between my Nestle Cheerios and the low-sugar imported from the USA ones she was eating and now asks for "Belgian cereal". It totally cracks me up when I hear her say that.