Carrot cake is a sweet cake with grated
carrot mixed into the
batter. The carrot softens in the cooking process, and the
cake usually has a soft, dense texture. The carrots themselves enhance the flavour, texture and appearance of the cake.
Deceptively named, carrot cake more closely resembles a quick bread in construction (all the wet ingredients, such as the eggs and sugar, are mixed together, all the dry ingredients are mixed together, and the wet is then added to the dry) and final consistency (which is usually denser than a traditional cake and has a coarser crumb).
Many carrot cake recipes include optional ingredients, such as nuts, raisins, pineapple, or coconut.[1]
Carrot cake may be eaten plain, but it is commonly either glazed or topped with white icing or cream cheese icing and walnuts, often chopped. Often they are decorated with frosting made to look like carrots. They are popular in loaf, sheet cake and cupcake form, and (in the United Kingdom as well as the United States) can be found pre-packaged at grocery stores, and fresh at bakeries.
