We went to a small birthday get-together this weekend and I brought this cake to share with everyone. I wish I could have made a more complex layer cake, but I’m not brave enough to transport one (especially since we were driving almost an hour). So I turned to this cake, which I think is a really simple, yet elegant, dessert. It doesn’t require a mixer and even better (in my opinion) no need to bring any ingredients to room temperature. I hate when I’m planning to make a recipe and re-read it only to discover that I need to bring many of the ingredients to room temperature. I know I could solve this problem by planning ahead, but I rarely do that. In any event, this cake was yummy but I do think it was a little overcooked. It was a bit darker and perhaps a bit less moist than I would have liked. Next time I’ll keep an eye on it as it gets closer to being finished.
By Tracey
Spiced Carrot Cake
from MarthaStewart.com
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan
- 1 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
- 1 cup finely shredded packed (about 2 medium) carrots
For Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush an 8-inch round cake pan with oil. Place a round of waxed or parchment paper in the bottom; brush with oil, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cardamom, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sugars, yogurt, and oil until smooth. Gently mix egg mixture into dry ingredients until moistened; mix in carrots. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent cake with aluminum foil). Cool in pan, 15 minutes. Turn out of pan, remove paper, and cool completely on a rack, right side up. Apply glaze (to make the glaze simply combine confectioners’ sugar with 1 to 2 teaspoons of water, until the glaze is thick and smooth), or dust with confectioners’ sugar.
