Carrot Cakes

With the economy being on the downturn for the past 2 years, many people are turning to growing their own vegetables. If you are fortunate to have the space to plant your own garden, I would encourage you to consider growing carrots. Like most homegrown fruits and vegetables, there is just no comparison of fresh grown and harvested carrots to the ones in the store. By the time carrots reach market the sugar in the vegetable has diminished. In addition, the typical variety you find in the prepackaged form is not sweet to begin with, and the texture resembles cardboard. If you don't believe that is so, try the following experiment I did myself - make a carrot cake out of fresh grown carrots, and then one from store bought ones. Enough said.

If you don't have the ability for whatever reason to grow your own carrots, don't despair. Just look for carrots that are in a bunch or individual, not prepackaged, and with the carrot tops still attached. They are more likely to be fresher and/or sweeter. Try shopping in local markets and vegetable stands as these are also more likely to carry fresher carrots. If you are able to grow your own, select a short fat variety of carrot seeds; these too are sweeter and produce wonderful carrot cakes, or are great for fresh eating and cooking.

You may noticed the sweetness of carrots that I have emphasized. Their sugar content, second only to sugar beets, have lent themselves to be used in cakes since medieval times. During those times sweeteners were not available to the masses of people due to their cost but the "lowly" carrot was. I venture to say that the peasants, eating such fare, were eating healthier than the lords who devoured the sugary sweet cakes their wealth enabled them to indulge in.

There is no standard type of carrot cake. There are carrot cupcakes, loaf cakes, and layer cakes. Being moist and slightly dense, they are great eaten plain, or served with the "traditional" cream cheese topping. Even some of the additional ingredients may vary according to taste, which may include nuts, raisins, shredded coconut, etc. What is consistent is the method of preparation. In an earlier post I discussed the preparation of quick breads, whereupon all the dry ingredients are mixed together, and then the wet ingredients are added to the dry ones. In that regard carrot cakes are similar to quick breads in that the wet to dry method is used as well.

When I first started this blog series I promised my readers a few of my Blue Ribbon winning recipes as a reward for their loyalty. Next week I will post such a recipe, one for my Carrot Cake. In the meantime, be on the lookout for fresh carrots, ones with their lacy green carrot tops attached, and ones not in those clear bags.

Next Week: Dori's Blue Ribbon Carrot Cake Recipe