Don’t be put off by a recipe’s name
Some weeks ago I was watching Iron Chef America where they had carrot as the secret ingredients. Cat Cora made a chocolate carrot cake which looked good, but the judges said the cake was a little too dry. I was thinking to myself, how yummy and interesting it was to eat chocolate and carrot at the same time. I wonder if there’s a good chocolate carrot cake recipe out there in the Internet. So I started to look right away and after some browsing found a recipe from Bon Apetit back in the year of 1998. The reviews were all good, I had all the ingredients, the recipe looked doable. I mentioned this recipe to my friend at work just before weekend to see how she reacted. She made awful face and mentioned that it sounded awful. Well, food tasting is very subjective and personal, don’t you think? I decided to go ahead and made it and brought it to work to share with some co-workers. I wanted to see how people reacted with the cake, chocolate and carrot and orange (in form of mandarin oranges) in one big lump of cake!
I made this without a glitch and I was so happy it came out perfect. Following some suggestions from the reviews and my own judgment, here are what I did slightly differently:
1. I didn’t use the full 2 1/4 cup sugar because I tend to lessen the sugar quantity in baked goods. Beside the flaked coconuts are already sweetened, why add too much sugar in the cake.
2. I used only 2 cups of semisweet chocolate and I used a good quality of chocolate here.
3. I used unsalted butter instead of margarine. I suspected that this is a Jewish baked good recipe and need a pareve cake for a special occasion.
4. I used less than 1/4 cup of frozen orange juice concentrate. Before I added the juice into the frosting mix, I checked for the consistency of the frosting. It’s better to add little by little rather than have it too much.
5. I added 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier to enhance orange flavor. You couldn’t go wrong with this one.
Wouldn’t you know it, chocolate and carrot and orange really went together well. The cake has a texture of a moist cake without being too heavy. The frosting was really buttery and smooth, the orange tone was there without overwhelmed it. I brought the cake to work the following Monday and the result was that everyone loved it, including my skeptical friend. She mentioned that she could hardly taste the carrots at all (and that’s good!). A few asked for the recipe which I gladly shared. I was happy to be able to prove that in spite of the name, chocolate-orange carrot cake was a winner!
Here’s the original recipe:
Chocolate-Orange Carrot Cake
Servings: Serves 8 to 10.
For cake
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely shredded peeled carrots (about 10 ounces)
1 cup (packed) sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 11-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
For frosting
2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 15 ounces)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted nondairy (pareve) margarine, room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
Additional canned mandarin orange segments, drained, patted very dry
Make cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Using electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 cups oil and eggs in large bowl until well blended and thick, about 2 minutes. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; beat at low speed to blend. Increase speed; beat 1 minute longer (batter will be very thick). Stir in carrots, coconut and orange peel, then orange pieces. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes. Turn out onto racks; cool completely.
Make frosting:
Stir chocolate chips in heavy medium saucepan over very low heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Spoon 1/3 cup chocolate into small bowl and reserve for decoration. Beat margarine and sugar in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in remaining melted chocolate and orange juice concentrate. Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 2/3 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Arrange additional orange segments around top edge of cake. Rewarm 1/3 cup reserved chocolate to pourable consistency if necessary. Drizzle orange segments with chocolate. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.)
Source: Bon Apetit, 1998
emang rada aneh juga yah Liz, chocolate ama carot di makan at the same time. Tapi penasaran juga loh gw ama rasanya. so I may try this recipe someday. Beneran deh kalau dah hectic for christmas nya reda.
give me your report later, okay?
Comment by dwiana — December 15, 2007 @ 3:16 pm
I think this sounds like a wonderful cake! I hate when people turn their noses up at something they’ve never tried.
that’s right Bri…i’ve always try something once before deciding whether i like or not.
Comment by brilynn — December 15, 2007 @ 6:06 pm
hey eliza , i’ve been missing you as well, cant believe all the wonderful things i’ve not seen and followed up on in so much time. This cake looks very moist. I’m sure the mandarin addition did the trick.Also i never use margarine. Just dont like the thought of it. Butter is so much better. You’ve really done a gr8 job with this cake eiza. It looks delicious. i want to cut me a big slice for my breakfast.,Its sunday morn here now and its just prefect to indulge.
indonesian cakes/cookies/baked goods sometimes used margarines or a mixture of it & butter. i don’t mind margarine, but not in regular quantity
guess, i was used to it more, huh? a slice of cake is always a wonderful thing to have in the fridge…
Comment by kate — December 15, 2007 @ 9:23 pm
OMG, looks tempting! Pengen nyoba mbak…hiks cuman baru pindahan jadi belum punya alat2 baking
yg di jkt gak dibawa Dit? gak boleh blogwalk dong, entar kepengen terus
Comment by dita — December 16, 2007 @ 2:48 am
How interesting. I just made an olive oil orange carrot cake. I have to admit I haven’t tried it yet. I thought it interesting that our recent carrot cake experiments both settled on oranges. . . .
i know i like chocolate and orange. the carrot really didn’t show up in the taste (because of the chocolate i bet), but the texture was very moist and light (because no butter in the cake). some people change the mandarins to pineapple, but for me that’s too close to being a regular carrot cake.
Comment by Tammy — December 16, 2007 @ 4:33 am
This certainly does sound like the perfect marriage of flavours
a marriage that lasted about 3 days
it’s gone slice per slice every day…
Comment by Bellini Valli — December 16, 2007 @ 6:18 am
that’s creative! and i bet children will love this cake too (with hidden veges! hehehe)
true…yet for my son who doesn’t like chocolate cake, it’s useless attempt
Comment by daphne — December 16, 2007 @ 11:53 pm
The ingredients are great favorites of mine, Liz – the cake is stunning!
oh, great! you have my taste too…
Comment by Patricia Scarpin — December 17, 2007 @ 4:48 am
I’ve actually ordered a slice of Choc-Carrot cake here in the Philippines a few months ago (I’m wondering why an accomplished chef like Cora would make a dry carrot cake… seems impossible given the common carrot cake ingredients). I found that the flavors overpowered each other, though there were no mandarin oranges to cut through the opposing flavors. I think you were spot-on in your proposed adjustments to the recipe, especially decreasing the sugar. In any case, the cake looks smashing
about chef Cora make a dry carrot cake that what intrigued me to find a better recipe
thanks for coming by…
Comment by manggy — December 18, 2007 @ 1:42 am
Chocolate Orange Carrot Cake sounds divine! Wow, and looks gorgeous too. I want a slice.
:)
Comment by Ari (Baking and Books) — December 18, 2007 @ 6:54 am
Wow, your cake looks fabulous! It’s such an interesting combination!
thanks HBB…
Comment by Happy Homebaker — December 18, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
Geez…you combine my fav chocolate cake with a non-chocolate cake fav of mine (happens to be carrot cake). I WANT THIS!
sadly it’s all gone t ;P
Comment by t — December 19, 2007 @ 12:38 am
This cake looks moist and inredible good,and the combination is fablous
thank you for visiting my blog and dropping a comment…
Comment by Sylvia — December 19, 2007 @ 3:08 pm
I love carrot cake, so I’m sure that if you add in chocolate and orange, it would be fabulous! It’s gorgeous, as well!
i’m not crazy for carrot cake myself, but this one really had me at first bite
Comment by Deborah — December 20, 2007 @ 11:26 am
Great way to trick kids to getting their fruits and veggies! Although, this cake looks more sinful than good!
that’s true… i think all cakes should be considered sinful temptations
Comment by Lalaine — December 25, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
wickedly yum ! any left ….
sorry… it’s loooonngg gone
Comment by rita bellnad — January 11, 2008 @ 1:08 am
Just great! I longed for such a cake… over here, in France, people are not that keen on carrot cakes, just because they’ve never tried that one! My family really enjoyed it! It has become the teens’favourite birthday cake!
Thanks!
you’re welcome. it gives me satisfaction to know that what i share here is beneficial to other people.
Comment by Nefertiti — May 28, 2008 @ 6:07 am
I like it The most beautiful still of the carrot cake
Comment by jale fikircioglu — July 25, 2008 @ 12:06 am