Carrot Cake Recipe
It seems almost all carrot cake recipes call for vegetable oil, which I hate the taste of in baked goods (I always use a high quality unsalted butter, like Lurpak). Can I substitute an equal amount of melted or room temperature softened butter, or does anyone have a recipe that doesn't use oil? Thanks so much!
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12 Comments:
You're definitely right about tasting the oil, but I think this is mostly because oil is more fragile than most people realize. For carrot cake try a nut oil, or even a roasted nut oil. Counter-intuitively, the cheapest oil may be best because that's what gets turned over quickest.
Avoid replacing all the oil with butter because butter stays solid at room temp, which which give the impression of dryness, whereas oil makes it feel moist.
As for recipes, I just used Dorie Greenspan's "Bill's Big Carrot Cake" recipe. It was a great recipe, and quite adaptable.
kindofabigdeal at 8:31AM on 03/20/09
I agree with the above comment from @kindofabigdeal. I usually use a combination of butter and oil. I also substitute a bit of honey for the sugar. Honey attracts moisture (it is hydroscopic and extends the shelf life of baked goods) and compliments the flavor of carrot cake. I usually substitute 1/4 cup of honey for 1/4 sugar and use half melted butter and half sunflower oil in my carrot cake.
dhorst at 8:53AM on 03/20/09
Thank you; much appreciated!
serious1 at 8:57AM on 03/20/09
This is my go-to carrot cake recipe, and no oil!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/gigis-carrot-cake-recipe/index.html
mandoopandoo at 10:07AM on 03/20/09
To add, this cake comes out deliciously moist, not dry at all.
mandoopandoo at 10:15AM on 03/20/09
Here's a recipe that uses applesauce instead of oil (which is often healthier anyways). It has coconut frosting too if you like (instead of the traditional cream cheese)!
Ingredients
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
2 C. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 C. shredded carrots
1 C. applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 C. raisins
1/2 C. chopped nuts
Coconut Frosting:
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 C. flaked coconut
Directions
Combine flour and the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add carrots, applesauce, vanilla, eggs, raisins, and nuts and mix well. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13x9 inch baking dish and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake is completely done in the middle. Allow to cool before frosting.
To make frosting, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in coconut and spread over cooled cake.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:38AM on 03/20/09
I've used 50% canola oil 50% melted unsalted butter with no ill effects. 100% butter would completely overwhelm the carrot flavor.
therealchiffonade at 1:20PM on 03/20/09
@dhorst - sunflower oil! what a great idea.... i love the taste of that and i think it would compliment the carrot cake. i always throw some sunflower and pumpkins seeds in mine. i love lots of "stuff" in my carrot cake.... little surprises like orange peel, minced fresh ginger, etc. i'm going to use the sunflower oil next time i make carrot cake. hope you're enjoying the nice weather we're having, at least it's sunny! :^)
pooch at 4:02PM on 03/20/09
I have subbed butter for veg oil in carrot cake and he better results. Oil tends tomake it a bit too dense , but the water content of butter keeps that from happening.
producestories at 10:44AM on 03/21/09
I have subbed in some ofthe butter/oil in a recipe with applesauce, but i wouldn't recommend using all applesauce.
I usually do half butter/half applesauce or something. The butter gives a nice richness to it that you cant get with oil. The applesauce makes is moist. If you do too much applesauce it makes it rather dense and weighty.
engmcmuffin at 2:56PM on 03/21/09
Butter is often used in baked goods because of it' superior flavor. In a carrot cake with many sweet ingredients, butters flavor tends to get lost among the competing flavors, therefore oil is usually used because it is much cheaper than butter.You can surely use butter, many carrot cake recipes do call for butter: a slight change may be needed in the wet ingredients, as oil is 100% fat while butter contains about 20% water
dmcavanagh at 9:06PM on 03/21/09
@mandoopandoo - That's my go-to recipe too! My boyfriend swears it's the best carrot cake he's ever had. I actually prefer it to Dorie's (which says a lot, because Dorie=Baking Goddess in our abode).
nosillak at 9:36PM on 03/22/09