Glazed Carrot Nut Cake
Submitted by Softail
Moist carrot cake baked in a tube pan with walnuts and cinnamon, finished with a glossy cooked orange glaze instead of the usual cream cheese frosting.
YIELD
1 cakePREP
20 minCOOK
75 minREADY
95 minThis carrot cake takes a different path from the standard cream cheese frosted version. Instead, it gets a glossy, cooked orange glaze made from fresh orange juice, orange peel, and butter thickened with cornstarch. The citrus cuts through the sweetness of the cake and adds a brightness that cream cheese frosting can’t match.
The batter is oil-based, which is what gives carrot cakes their trademark dense moisture. Beating the oil and sugar together for a full five minutes incorporates enough air to keep things from getting heavy. Eggs go in one at a time, alternating with the dry ingredients, for a batter that’s smooth and well-emulsified.
Three cups of raw carrots and a cup of walnuts or pecans give the cake substance and texture. Cinnamon ties the earthy carrots to the sweet orange glaze. Baked low and slow in a tube pan, this is a cake that freezes beautifully if you need to make it ahead.
Kitchen Tips
- Grate the carrots on the fine side of a box grater. Large shreds don’t distribute evenly and create wet pockets in the cake.
- Invert the pan on a rack and let it cool completely before removing. The cake is heavy and will collapse if you unmold it warm.
- Cook the glaze until it’s thick and glossy, then let it cool to tepid before spreading. Too hot and it slides off; too cool and it won’t spread smoothly.
- This cake freezes well for months. Glaze it, let it set, freeze on a tray, then wrap tightly.
Variations
- Cream cheese swirl: Omit the orange glaze and fold a ribbon of sweetened cream cheese through the batter before baking for a marbled effect.
- Tropical carrot cake: Add crushed pineapple and shredded coconut to the batter for a pineapple carrot cake variation.
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the oil and sugar with mixer for 5 minutes.
Sift the next 5 ingredients together and stir half into sugar mixture.
Blend thoroughly.
Add remainng half of dry ingredients, alternately with eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add carrots and nuts, mix well and pour into a lightly oiled 10-inch tube pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When done, invert pan on cake rack and let it cool.
For the glaze, place the sugar, orange peel, cornstarch, and orange juice in a saucepan and stir until well mixed.
Then add the lemon juice, butter and salt.
Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy.
Let cool until tepid, then spread on unmolded cake.
When cool, freeze cake on a tray, then remove cake, wrap, label and put back in freezer, if desired, for storage.
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