Vaughn Makes the Best Carrot Cake Recipe (Ever…?) | Cooking the Comments | NYT Cooking

Hey y'all or should I Say what's up [Laughter] [Music] Doc hello everybody my name is vau and Welcome to cooking the comments I love Like a moist dense cake I love a cream Cheese frosting enter carrot Cake so the recipe that I'm going to Cook through today is Dory green spans Carrot cake which I I've been doing a Lot of research on carrot cakes on the Internet and I do think that it's kind Of considered widely to be like the gold Standard carrot cake I'm going to cook Through the recipe once through just as Dory Greenspan wrote it and then I'm Going to go through the comments I'm Going to parse the section and just see Like what are they adding to it what are They taking away how are they amending It and I'm going to develop and test my Ultimate Carr Kake this is a carrot cake that like I Said is kind of considered I would say To be like a gold standard carrot cake But it does have some ingredients in it That I know people are a little bit like Take it or leave it with it's got Coconut it's got raisins it's got Chopped walnuts or pecans peans peans we Do this every single time in the comment Section I think people kind of have Their opinions about those things but

Everything else is pretty standard it is An oil-based cake it's got some spice in It and obviously it's got lots of Shredded carrots it is a 9 in cake and There are three rounds so I've got you Know just my like kind of non-stick cake Pans right here but even though they're Non-stick I'm still going to butter and Flour them per the recipe because you Know just giving myself a little bit of Extra insurance there I'll see you later Can't have a carrot cake without carrots So I'm going to just shred some carrots Here I'm like a little bit lazy and like I think if I were making this at home I Wouldn't peel the carrots because I'm on International Television right now I Feel like I need to if you have a food Processor you can put the great Attachment in there which has holes that Are about this size but if you want to Be a hero use a box grater I'm going to Do like one of these and be like can we Get the swap in Here all right I'm Done everybody say hi to Viv My Lifesaver next thing I'm going to do Is I'm going to sip together my dry Ingredients so I've got my flour here And then I've got my baking powder Baking soda Co salt and some ground Cinnamon kind of evenly disperse so that When we're ready to add the dry Ingredients to the wet ingredients it'll

Just be really nice and evenly mixed in Addition to carrots I've got coconut Raisins and these are walnuts if you put Really dry dry fruit in your cake batter You know depending on how much you have In there it could even like draw some of That moisture out of the cake itself so I'm going to just add some boiling water Over that so while those raisins kind of Plump up I'm going to go ahead and Measure out my carrots then I've got Some coconut and then I've got some Chopped walnuts there and then I'm going To go Ahead and drain my raisins and even just Letting them sit in there for a couple Minutes you can tell that they've Already started to kind of plump up a Little bit more so going to just add Those in there just kind of making sure That everything is kind of well Incorporated now at this stage and then I'm going to get going with my wood Ingredients add my sugar a cup of Neutral oil here the nice thing about an Oil-based cake is they tend to be I Think a little bit more moist butter is Solid at room temperature oil canola Safflower grape seed those are going to Be liquid at room temperatures don't Know the total science behind it but if Something is liquid at room temperature It's going to create for a more moist Thing

Overall I know love makes sense to Me that's Adele Adele and I baking Together now that the oil and the sugar Is starting to combine a little bit I'm Going to add add my eggs one at a time And then mix well after each [Music] Edition when you're adding especially Four eggs to something you want to make Sure that you don't overwhelm the fat That's in here because that's when you Can kind of start to see some splitting So now you see that this is like a Really nice smooth homogeneous mixture In here and that's why you eggs one at a Time and now I'm going to add the dry Ingredients and mix just until they Disappear it's a good visual indicator It's just mixing it until it just Disappears all right when you're working In a sand mixer you do want to make sure That you kind of go down into the bottom Because I can even see down there that I've got some of my like unincorporated Wet ingredients with the dry ingredients So I'm kind of just finishing the mixing By hand there okay just going to mix These just again till they disappear Perfect okay so everything seems to be Nice and evenly Incorporated in here so I'm going to add equal amounts in each Of my three prepared pans there because This is like a a less liquid cake batter I'm going to just kind of work it to the

Edges here just to make sure that it's In one nice and even layer now let's go Into the oven Like you can't have carrot cake without Cream cheese frosting it really kind of Like adds a necessary bit of Tang so This is uh an 8 oz block of cream cheese Every temp start by combining this with A stick of Butter and really want to make sure that This is nice and well mixed because you Don't want to have any lumps in it at This stage these are both about the same Temperature which will will help with This scrape down the sides and then Continue mixing it I think you really do Need this to be like smooth and creamy And start to look a little bit lighter In color before you continue with adding Your confectioner sugar because it again Is like almost like you're emulsifying The two fats together so I'm going to Continue beating It Okay probably add maybe like a quarter First just to get it Started I'm going to finish off [Music] Here so now I'm going to add just a Little bit of lemon juice it's not zest It's just the juice and I think that That acidity kind of helps bring out That acidity from the cream cheese and It it really cuts the sweetness

I think we're done I think uh once the Cakes are ready we're going to frost This baby up decorate her a little bit And be good to go so I'm going to let These cool in the pan for probably about 5 to 10 minutes and then run a knife Along the edge and then invert them onto My cooling racks take this invert it and Pre perfect there we go knock three Times so I've got my three layers here So I'm going to start by inverting my Cake plate there and it's pretty Centered perfect pretty much just divide This frosting into [Music] Three rest of this cuz we're not Crossing the [Music] [Music] Outside just looking at it and slicing It you can tell that it's really moist I'm going to give it a Taste it's very good it's sweet Quite a sweet cake which again I don't Hate it's got a nice spice I don't think That the spice is overwhelming it just Kind of like helps bring out that Carrot which I I Like kind of wish the nuts on the inside Were toasted and I want the cream cheese To have a little bit more of a Tang all In all this recipe is like fabulous like I said I think it's like one of those Gold standard recipes it's a great frame

Of reference I can't stop eating it so Obviously don't like it I would like to See what the commenters are saying about It there are a lot of really great Comments again this recipe has almost 7,000 reviews in five stars but that Doesn't mean that people don't have Opinions about it sui says Made has Written The First Time cake was Fluffy But I really wanted a bit more of a Denser cake so added a quar cup of Pineapple a/2 cup of diced candy ginger That sounds really good I'm seeing some Different spices people are adding some Like Nutmeg all spice it seems different Zests to the frosting which I definitely Think I want to try I'm seeing a lot of Pineapple additions and I do think that That's something that's Very kind of like classic almost like Church potluck type Vibe carrot cake oh Reducing the baking soda Tad that is one Thing that I I did kind of taste the Chemical leaver a little bit in that Cake so that's something to just kind of Keep in mind when I'm developing my own Sonia says that she soaked the raisins In rum a lot of people seem to be Reducing the sugar to one and 1/2 cups Instead of two cups brown sugar is an Interesting addition Elaine uses brown Sugar I'm seeing some white chocolate Frosting I'm seeing people subbing

Different oils like coconut oil could be Interesting if you're kind of going for That coconuty Vibe well Rebecca changed A lot let's just run through I didn't Feel the need to make the cream cheese Frosting I made them into cupcakes I Substituted half the cinnamon for cardom Lovely alteration I also used butter Instead of oil and use sweetened coconut So I reduced the sugar to one and a/4 Cups and then I added half a cup of Pineapple she made like seven different Changes love to see that kind of Gumption I think I want to try adding Pineapple I want to try a version Without coconut or raisins just to see Like what those are giving me I want to Try a version with less sugar And I want to try a version with brown Sugar I think I want to try a version With coconut oil and then I'm going to Try some different types of frosting I Think I'm going to try like a brown Butter version of the cream cheese Frosting maybe adding some sour cream I've seen white chocolate in the Frosting which is a a big comment on Here and then adding some like different Zests or flavorings to the frosting Overall and making it maybe a little Less sweet and more of it cuz you can Never have too much frosting right I think that in the interest of not Having like so many three layer cakes on

Set proceeding with my tests as half Recipes for now is going to be fine even Though it's half the recipe and it bakes Up in three I still think I'm going to Just do it in one layer and just maybe Bake it a little longer I'll be able to Tell when it's Done so the first version that I'm going To do is going to be like the easiest Change which is is just removing the Coconut and the raisins cuz that was a Big comment that a lot of people said Really what I'm interested in seeing is How this tastes without the coconut Because you know the coconut is not only Adding like texture it's adding Sweetness it's adding a little coconut Iness but it could be adding like Moisture in there yeah I want to see how It acts I'm going to mix up my dry Ingredients in here and then mix just The chopped walnuts with the carrots and I think that this is like at its core The simplest Carr Kake so everything Else in this recipe is the exact same It's time for the Montage Yet cue the [Music] Montage I'm still going to bake this at 325° and I'm going to check it at about 40 45 minutes I anticipate it's going to Take a little bit longer but I'm still Going to use those dness cubes that I Used the first

Time so the second version that I'm Going to do is the version with crushed Pineapple I'm going to have to fact Check this but pineapple is actually Really often used as like can make Things a lot more tender like a meat Tenderizer in some ways my Hypothesis is that it makes the cake not Only have this kind of like extra Moisture in it but it also makes it a Little bit more tender people are Commenting they were adding half cup of The crushed pineapple in it liquid so I'm going to just add 1/4 cup here all Right and then I'm going to continue on With the rest of my recipe as written Q Montage [Music] Brown sugar in cakes could make it a Little denser could also make it a Little bit more moist because brown Sugar has a little bit more moisture in It we'll see how it acts though [Music] In baking sugar is a wet ingredient so Depending on the ratio and depending on The quantity it could change how things Behave so I definitely want to do a test With less sugar just to see how the bake Reacts other than that everything else Is the same let's bounce [Music] This is like a virgin unrefined coconut Oil it's got a lower smoke point but a

More coconuty flavor to it you know it Might perfume it with a little bit more Coconut flavor we'll see but that's the Only other change that I made to this Test I'm going to continue with the Recipe as written with my dry Ingredients then mixing my oil with my Sugar adding the eggs and then the Chunkies [Music] Done a lot today already and that's just The cake just looking at these they can Definitely tell some differences right Like they all baked it pretty much the Exact same time which I wanted them to Looking at the no mixes it's looking a Little blonde it definitely is sloping In on the inside the pineapple wood is a Little a little sloped on the inside but It's definitely a lot darker which is Really interesting in I mean it Definitely has more sugar in there so That's probably why the coconut oil one Honestly was really nice I mean it baked Up the flattest out of all of them the Brown sugar one definitely took on a Little bit more color than the rest of Them but I like it I mean it still feels Like really springy and spongy and then The less sugar one I was expecting this One to really like be vastly different It's not that much blonder than the no Mixon one and it actually looked like It's a little bit more evenly baked

Originally I was thinking by the end of Day one I would maybe have the cake test The frosting test and do like a little Bit of a mix and match I think I'm just Going to these are still warm it's Nearing the end of the day I think we Should just kind of like call it how we Feel about that good why don't we just Come back in the morning and I'll whip Up some frosting cuz that'll be really Easy and then we can do like a little Breakfast taste test let's go home [Music] We're back I'm really interested to Taste these and just see how they how They're playing with each other but First I think I'm going to set these Aside and make some buttercream so that I can kind of set myself up with like a Little like a little cake tasting you [Music] Know I think I'm going to test a few Different frostings this morning I'm Going to do a brown butter cream cheese Frosting I'm going to do a cream cheese Sour cream frosting I saw a lot of Comments about white chocolate so I'm Going to do a white chocolate uh cream Cheese frosting and then I'm going to do Just like a regular one with a little Citrus zest in it I'm going to start by Browning some butter because I want to Give that some time to cool and then I'll move on with the rest of the stuff

Stirring the brown butter in the ice Bath but I'm taking it off every once in A while because it is you know it starts To kind of solidify around the sides and You can already you see it's pretty much Almost back to solid butter form so I Think one of the things that I kind of Noticed yesterday with the frosting was That it was a little sweet for me so I Have just like the bag of powdered sugar Here and I'll kind of add a little bit Here in There okay give it away Taste it's nice I definitely going to Add a pinch of salt and maybe a little Bit more sugar just for the structure of It all but I'm really happy with her It's Up this is done I think I'm going to Make a couple more variations of Frosting cue the Montage I'm going to Start by just beating together my butter And cream cheese and then I'm going to Portion out half for the Citrus frosting And half for the sour [Music] The final buttercream that I'm going to Try is a white chocolate cream cheese I'm going to use the white chocolate Also as like sugar [Music] Element this is a lot we were doing Doing some math we carryed the two a Little bit um there's going to be 24

Different variations in addition to that I kind of just want to taste the cakes On their own so 30 I guess I'm going to Start with the original like I said I I Know what this tastes like but kind of Got to you know jog the memory a little Bit a very like platonic ideal carrot Cake okay so this one is less sugar so It's the same exact recipe as the Original but less sugar That's really nice I mean it's really Interesting to see between these two This is the original recipe and this One's less sugar and the color is like Pretty different honestly I'll try the Pineapple next because I think that that Was one of the big like notes I saw a Lot of people Say m the pineapple is nice it's not Like overly pineapple it's very moist a Lot of people were saying it's like Makes it a lot more moist a lot more Tender I don't notice a huge difference This is going to be the brown sugar Version M it's nice cuz I'm getting a Little bit of like a a deeper more Molasses SE flavor okay so this one is The one with coconut oil when I was Mixing the batter I could really smell The coconut oil I can kind of smell it Here it's interesting that one's coming Across like a lot sweeter to me than the Original one but it's good the texture Is really lovely now I'm going to try

The no mixin I miss the raisins I don't miss the Coconut there I said it I like the bite That the raisins give I like the little Bit of like texture so I've done my cake Tasting now I'm going to taste different Versions of the cake paired with Different versions of the frosting that I made okay brown butter intrigued I Think I'm going to try brown butter with Brown sugar after tasting the cake I'm Leaning brown sugar I'm leaning less Sugar that's good I wasn't getting as Much of the carrot cakiness I was Getting a lot of brown Butter which isn't a bad thing maybe I'll try the brown butter with pineapple Just to see cuz pineapple had like a Pretty distinct flavor as Well oh Man I like the brown butter and the Pineapple that's really interesting did We write down that we like the brown Butter and the pineapple we're Okay now I'm going to do Citrus I think The Citrus buttercream is something that I was quite excited for maybe I'll do The lime zest with the coconut Oil M the lime is really nice in there This is the lime with the Pineapple I'm on a Beach I'm on a beach I really like the Lime zest I think existentially is that Making this something that it's not I

Don't know white chocolate I'm going to Try the white chocolate with the less Sugar Version the white chocolate's definitely The note that I'm getting and I'm not Getting as much of the cream cheesy note That I would like next I'm going to try This sour cream frosting tastes really Good it smells lovely but I think that I Would want it to have a little bit more Structure maybe I'll try this one with The original see how it Goes when Paired with the cake itself I don't know If I like it as much but maybe I'll try It with the less sugar One less Sweetness in the cake helps Reinforce the kind of sour notes that Are in the frosting itself which I like I think that's kind of essential final Thoughts after the tasting I like the Brown sugar I like the pineapple I'm Interested in the pineapple and I like The less sugar I think that these three Are my favorite of the cakes in terms of Frostings I tried the sour cream with The original version and the less sugar Version I definitely think it stood up Better to a less sweet cake which I Liked but I'm interested to see what Everybody else Thinks H what do you think what's your Favorite oh my gosh I love I love the Brown sugar one brown sugar and sour

Cream surprisingly sour cream I really Liked brown butter frosting and I really Like brown sugar cake um but I'm also a Big no Mixon girly oh I know you know What I say to that we can't be Friends yeah we we agree uh that the Sour cream with the brown sugar is Topnotch sour cream brown sugar in there Too yeah okay I think that the general Consensus is that brown sugar is brown Sugar sour cream I'm still on the fence Between pineapple no pineapple so maybe We do two tests of those to see but Loving this taste Test I've learned a lot I learned you Know what types of things I like look For in a carrot cake I like spice in my Car carrot cake I like for it to be Pretty dense but not stodgy I like a Cream cheese frosting that's you know Fairly standard I don't want it to be Too sweet I love a raisin I'm still on The fence about pineapple so I wrote Down what I think a good starter recipe Would be for me and then I have a number Two version where I'm adding a half2 cup Of pineapple I'm going to add raisins That have been rum soaked ground ginger And freshly grated ginger in terms of Frosting seem like we like the sour Cream frosting Pretty much across the board here and I Might add some lemon zest to it I guess I've got a great carrot

[Music] Smell we did a lot this first one that I Did is a brown sugar version and I went Down half a cup on the sugar I also Added some rum soaked raisins and to Give a little bit more zip I did ground Ginger and freshly grated ginger in There I also emitted the coconut from This completely I didn't think it needed It and then for this one is the exact Same but I added some crushed pineapple And then the frosting I ended up doing The sour cream variation rather than Lime zest I did lemon [Music] Zest these baked at about the same exact Time these are are both two layer cakes Rather than three layer cakes I did put Sour cream in this frosting and as you Can see the density and the weight of This cake it definitely weighed it down It because it was a really delicate Light frosting I would make this Frosting again for another application It was so delicious maybe like a Victoria sponge of some sort but this Cake is too dense for that so I think That when I actually develop the recipe Which you can see below um I will just Do cream cheese and butter rather than Add adding the sour cream in there so We've got two versions of rum raisin Carrot cake one with pineapple one Without I'm going to try the one without

First wow it's really good it's a little Closed textured meaning like it's not as Tender as I would maybe want it to be Now I'm going to try the pineapple one Which I'm pretty excited About I mean by George I think we found It it's really nice I would even maybe Consider going up like I did two Teaspoons of fresh theed ginger I would Maybe go up to a full tablespoon because I really like the ginger in there but The pineapple is so good I think that The like booziness of the rum raisins Comes out a little bit more in this one For some reason the last two days were Truly so fun I really love just like Taking something really foundational This carrot cake has kind of stood the Test of time to take something like that And then to be able to like mold it and Adapt it based on your comments based on Things that I was kind of feeling to be Able to try different things that's the Beauty of a recipe a recipe is a living Breathing thing it is not meant to be so Set in stone and I think that this is Something that is this is an experiment That really speaks to that but yeah uh You can find dory's recipe my recipe and Many other wonderful carrot cake recipes Rib Recipes burger recipes even on New York Times [Music]

Good oh I didn't see you there so I Spent the last couple weeks developing The carrot cake at home I got in such a Good spot here at the studio but I Really like to take my recipes home with Me so that I can make sure that they a Work in a home kitchen and B just really Try to get the best possible version of Them so I didn't end up changing much With the cake batter itself I upped the Spices so that you could really taste Them and I upped the rum raisin factor In it I also did a mixture of brown and White sugar rather than just brown sugar Because the brown sugar left a little Stodgy the frosting is that girl I made About four different versions of the Frosting and honestly everyone was Delicious it was just a little too loose For me I needed it to be a little bit More structural for the heft of the Layers of the carrot cake so I took to The Reddit threads you know I did some Research on it and I found this Wonderful YouTuber shout out to Sugar Aly and she she kind of came up with This really great solution of almost Emulsifying the cream cheese into the Butter and sugar mixture I think that it Works really really well I took it into The office folks loved it and I'm just Really overall happy with how it turned Out I love carrot cake I think dory's Recipe is perfect I think that this

Recipe that I've created is such a fun Riff on her recipe I hope you all make It it's delicious you can leave out the Booze if you want but hey why would you It's Friday and this video on the Internet so it could be any day