Carrot Cake (Linda's)

Original Recipe

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups oil

4 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts

1 1/2 cups coconut ( I used unsweetened)

1 1/3 cups cooked carrots (I mashed them up before measuring)

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained

350 degree oven - 45 minutes or more. 

Cream cheese frosting.

Did it Work?

Yes. This got good reviews at the party I took it to and was tasty, dense and full of stuff. The running joke in our house is that this is carrot cake that wants to be fruit cake when it grows up due to the variety of ingredients that go into the cake. If you have the carrots already cooked up this will come together pretty easily, otherwise it will require some work.

Modifications

Mixing order. The best way for this seems to be what Alton Brown calls the "muffin method". Prepare your pan(s) by spraying with Pam or your preferred greasing mix and set aside. In a bowl sift the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon together and set aside. In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla together.  Then mix in the nuts, coconut and the cooked carrots. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, being carful to not over mix. Poor into prepared pan and bake.

Pan size. I did this in a 13x9 and while nothing dire happened I did end up feeling like the pan was over-full and the  cake did not rise properly. The cake fell a bit more than I liked in the middle. Next time, I want to split the batter into two separate pans to try and fix this. 

Frosting. I couldn't find a single recipe for cream cheese frosting in the recipe box. So, it was back to that old reliable, The Joy of Cooking. Use whatever recipe makes you happy, or none at all. This cake does not need frosting to be tasty.

Rhubarb Cake

Original Recipe

2 cups rhubarb

2 1/4 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup shortening [I used butter]

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

11/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Mix together the rhubarb and 1/2 cup sugar and set aside.

Cream together 1 1/2 cup sugar and the shortening. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.

Shift together the flour, baking soda, salt and 1 tsp. of the cinnamon. Add to the shortening mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Add vanilla and the rhubarb and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle on top of batter. Put in oven and bake for 35 minutes or until done.

* Sour milk can be made by bringing 1 cup milk up to room temperature and mixing in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. Wait approximately 10 minutes, until the milk has thickened to use. If you are in a hurry, you can zap the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds to get it up to room temperature.

Did it Work?

Yes, it was tasty, and received several compliments. It was also incredibly easy to put together and can feed a large number of people easily. This is more of a snack cake than something fancy and would be right at home at a potluck or picnic. The only issue was that in my mind it was far too sweet. This is a rhubarb cake for those who don’t really like rhubarb, since the sugar covered up most of the sourness of the fruit. Unlike Sean,I like rhubarb, so I made some modifications. What I ended up with was cake that also garnered a lot of compliments, but was less toothache-inducing and let the rhubarb shine through.

Modifications

1) Less sugar: 1/4 cup on the rhubarb, 1 cup in the batter, and 2 tablespoons mixed with the cinnamon to sprinkle on top. This means you have 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar total for the recipe.

2) Changed Flour Type: I replaced 1 cup all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. Since there was cinnamon in the batter, it did not effect the color, or as far as I can tell the texture. I am pretty sure you could get away with replacing all of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour.

Pictures

Cake version 2.0, in the pan.

Slice o'cake. Excuse the blur, it was early, I was using an iPhone and most importantly....I wanted cake.