The lowly carrot should be center stage
es to fall desserts.

EILEEN GOLTZ

Special to the Jewish News

I

n the fall, all the attention seems to go to the more popular yel-
low/orange vegetables like the pumpkin and acorn squash. The
workhorse of the beta carotene group, the carrot, gets over-
looked and has to wait until the fall frenzy of pumpkin and
sweet potato pies and acorn squash soup dies down to reclaim its place
in our hearts.

SOUR CREAM CARROT CAKE

3/4 c. self-raising flour
1/2 c. plain flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. grated carrot
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c. sour cream
Cream Cheese Icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. soft butter
1 t. grated lemon rind
1 1/2 c. icing sugar

Grease a loaf pan and line the base with paper;
grease paper. Sift flours, soda, cinnamon and nut-
meg into a bowl, stir in sugar and carrot.
Combine oil, eggs and sour cream and stir into
flour mix. Pour mixture into ring tin, bake in a
moderately slow oven about 50 minutes. Turn on
to rack to cool. When cold spread with icing and
decorate with walnut halves.
Make icing: In a mixing bowl beat cheese, but-
ter and lemon rind in a small bowl until light
and fluffy, gradually beat in sifted icing sugar;
beat until combined.

MOIST CARROT AND
RAISIN WALNUT LOAF

1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. corn syrup
2 eggs
2 c. grated carrot
1 c. chopped raisins
1 c. chopped walnuts
1 1/2 c. self-raising flour
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon

Grease a loaf pan and line with paper and grease
the paper. Cream together the butter, sugar and

10/5
2001

84

We use carrots all the time in salads and tsimmes, but when do we
notice them the most? When we put them in cakes, of course. These
recipes, for the most part can be made either dairy or pareve, but in
my opinion, they taste best when slathered with a cream cheese frost-
ing and eaten in their entirety at one sitting.
(Note several of the recipes call for self-rising flour; if you don't have
it or don't want to use it, substitute 1 cup flour plus 1/4 teaspoon bak-
ing powder for every cup of self-rising flour called for. A pinch of salt
added to the flour and baking powder is optional.)

vanilla beat in corn syrup, then the eggs one at a
time beat until well combined. Stir in carrot,
raisins and walnuts. (Don't worry if the mixture
looks curdled; it will come right when the flour is
added.)
Stir in sifted dry ingredients; stir until com-
bined. Pour the mixture into prepared pan. Bake
at 350F for 60-75 minutes. Let stand about 5
minutes before turning on to a wire rack. Cool
and then serve. You can dust the top with pow-
dered sugar if you like. Serves 8. This freezes very
nicely.

PECAN CREAM CARROT CAKE

(Note: takes two days to prepare but
really worth it)
Pecan Cream Filling:
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. chopped pecans
2 t. vanilla
Carrot Cake:
1 1/4 c. corn oil
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
4 eggs
4 c. grated carrots (about a 1-lb. bag)
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. soft unsalted butter
8 oz. soft cream cheese
1 lb. box of powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
4 oz. shredded, sweetened coconut (1-1/2 cups)

Pecan cream filling: In a heavy saucepan, blend
together the flour, sugar and salt. Gradually stir
in the cream. Add the butter. Cook and stir the

mixture over a low heat until the butter has melt-
ed, then let simmer for 20-30 minutes until gold-
en brown in color, stirring occasionally. Cool to
lukewarm.
Stir in the nuts and vanilla. Let cool and refrig-
erate, preferably overnight. If too thick to spread,
bring to room temperature before using.
Carrot Cake: Preheat oven to 350F. Have ready
two greased and floured nine-inch cake pans. In a
large bowl whisk together the corn oil and sugar.
Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder,
baking soda and salt. Sift half the dry ingredients
into tie sugar-oil mixture and blend. Alternately,
sift in the rest of the dry ingredients while adding
the eggs, one by one. Combine well. Add the
carrots, raisins, and pecans.
Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 40-45
minutes (check at 35 minutes). Cool upright on
a cooling rack. If you are not using the cake that
day, it can be removed from the pans and
wrapped in plastic and stored at room tempera-
ture or frozen until needed.
Cheese Cream Filling: In the bowl of an elec-
tric mixer cream the butter well. Add the cream
cheese and beat until blended. Sift in the sugar
and add the vanilla. If it is too soft to spread,
chill a bit. Chill if not using immediately, but
bring to room temperature before spreading.
Assembly: Preheat oven to 300F. Spread the
coconut on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15
minutes until it colors lightly. Toss the coconut
occasionally while it is baking so that it browns
evenly,. Cool completely. Have the filling and the
frosting at a spreadable consistency.
Loosen the cake in its pan and invert onto a
serving plate. With a long serving knife, carefully
split the cake rounds in half-length wise. Spread
J/2 the filling between the layers and stack them
so that all 4 layers have an equal amount of frost-
ing between them. Spread the remaining frosting
over the top and sides. Pat the coconut onto the
sides of the cake. Serves 8 to 10. El