Carrot cake lovers...help, please. I like my carrot cake more spicy. What's the best combination

[truth2power]

of spices choosing from cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger....and one recipe I found suggests cardamon. What flavor does cardamon add?

Thanks.

[Big Orange Jeff]

1. My mother's carrot cake is the best in the world...

She finally gave me the recipe, after swearing me to secrecy. The only spices in it are cinnamon and ginger.

Cardamom has a unique flavor and aroma that I can't liken to anything else. I've been toying with the idea of adding some Grains of Paradise, aka malagueta, to the batter. It's sort of peppery, with some ginger and cardamom notes. I use it in apple pies occasionally.

Hope this helps.

[truth2power]

3. That's great! Thanks. In the recipes I've looked at I see a lot of

ginger/cinnamon combination. That doesn't seem like enough of an assortment, but I'll experiment and see.

I've never heard of malagueta. Worth looking for it, though.

[Big Orange Jeff]

8. IMHO, the frosting is what makes a carrot cake. nt

NT

[msanthrope]

7. I vote cardamom, too. Nothing else like it. nt

[grasswire]

2. if you google spicy carrot cake, you'll turn up many variations

....including cayenne pepper.

[truth2power]

4. I googled spicy carrot cake. That's where I found all those spices. There's a local restaurant

that has carrot cake to die for (IMO, anyway). It's really spicy. Also, it's really dense - it seems to me that most carrot cake recipes call for a LOT of oil, and then usually some of the reviewers complain that the recipe came out soggy.

I guess I'll keep tweaking a recipe till I find one I like.

[grasswire]

5. cardamom to my mind doesn't have a bright spicy taste

It's more subtle. I think of it as something used in Scandinavian baking, and use it in some of those recipes. I wonder about using five spice powder for something different. How about black pepper? Or grated fresh ginger?

[grasswire]

6. I wonder about using some carrot puree to increase density without oil?

You could even use baby food carrots. People use prune puree or applesauce for moisture in baked goods, why not carrots?

[Sentath]

9. I really can't get behind cardamom

Cardamom, think chai tea..


But, the rest of that list looks good in small amounts.

Does your carrot cake have vanilla? (make sure it is a good quality vanilla, and try using a Mexican style vanilla with a mix of natural and artificial, they're delicious)

Does your carrot cake have raisins? (try substituting dried cranberries for 1/3 to all of them)

Does your carrot cake have nuts? What kind? (I can't use walnuts, but whatever kind, always toast them)

When you say spicy, do you want zing*, depth**, richness***?

*cassia and a little ginger or galingal

**cinnamon, maybe a hint of clove

***vanilla and some allspice

[freshwest]

10. Um, lots of walnuts, raisins, shredded carrot, extra clove, which can get spicy.

Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 11:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Other than that, much as you said.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Minced fresh ginger is what I use.

I put minced fresh ginger in the icing too.

I love cardamom but I think that I wouldn't use it in carrot cake. Cinnamon and ginger, or cinnamon and allspice would be my choices.

[eShirl]

12. if you use cinnamon, use Saigon Cinnamon

it's the "hot" cinnamon


I would use cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and perhaps allspice, but not cloves.
I don't even have cardamom... (maybe I should get some)