Olive Oil Carrot Cake - Cream Cheese Frosting

Olive Oil Carrot Cake can, of course, be made with another oil; but I only ever have on hand extra virgin olive oil. I use it for everything, even frying (not deep fat). This isn't the place for a sharp, bitter, or super expensive oil; use a nice fruity extra virgin olive oil. 

My recipe calls for a different technique than you usually find in carrot cake recipes. Instead of mixing completely by hand, I use an electric hand mixer for part of the recipe (as in Olive Oil Apple Cake). 

It is an easy cake, but special care must be taken when mixing in the olive oil. Be sure to add it in a slow, steady stream, fully incorporating it as you go. This eliminates the thing some people don't like about carrot cake, the oiliness of it.

Cream Cheese Frosting is the classic frosting for any carrot cake, and there's a reason for that--it's really good! I don't go crazy with the cream cheese, though. Just a little 3-ounce package gives the frosting plenty of cream cheese flavor.

Found a "practice" sheet of carrots done a year ago and thought it would be fun

 to crop it for this post.

It would have been delightful to show you a picture of a beautifully frosted layer cake here, but I frosted the two layers separately so that I could drop one off for friends who are without an oven just now.

When we're out of lockdown and attending large gatherings again, you might want to make my easily transportable, serve-it-from-the-pan, feeds-a-crowd Carrot Sheet Cake. Happy summer!

Olive Oil Carrot Cake - Cream Cheese Frosting

(Makes one 13x9x2-inch cake or two 8-inch round layers)

The Cake

2 dip-and-sweep cups (10 ounces/283 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (5.6 ounces/160 grams) raisins
1 cup (4 ounces/113 grams) chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces/298 grams) sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup (8 fluid ounces/237 ml or 7.5 ounces/213 grams) extra virgin olive oil

2 firmly packed cups peeled and coarsely shredded* carrots (from 12 ounces/340 grams carrots)

* Peel and shred the carrots just before making the cake so that they do not lose moisture. Don't buy pre-shredded carrots for this; they are too dry to use in cakes.

The Frosting

1 3-ounce (85 grams) package cream cheese, room temperature

4 tablespoons (2 ounces/57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
3 firmly packed cups (12 ounces/340 grams) unsifted powdered sugar

About 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce/30 ml) milk

1 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Grease and flour one 13x9x2-inch baking dish or two 8-inch round layer pans.

Note: You need 2-inch-deep 8-inch round layer pans; this is too much batter for shallower pans.

2 In 1.5-quart bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In small bowl, measure out raisins and nuts. Remove a tablespoon of the flour mixture to mix into the raisins and nuts, being sure to separate all the raisins.

3 In 4-quart mixing bowl, combine sugar and eggs. With electric mixer on medium speed, beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

4 With hand mixer running on medium speed, gradually pour the olive oil in a thin stream into the egg mixture, so that it is completely incorporated. This can take up to 7 minutes; don't rush it.

5 By hand, fold in the flour mixture. Then gently stir in the carrots, raisins and nuts. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake single cake about 45 to 55 minutes, layers about 40 minutes. Cool in pan(s) on wire rack(s) about 10 minutes; remove from pan(s) and continue cooling on rack(s). Must be completely cool before frosting.

6 In bowl of stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and salt. Gradually add powdered sugar (no need to sift) and mix until thoroughly combined, adding milk at the end. 

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean

Fig Rolls - Fig Newtons

Fig Rolls were something I hadn't made since I was a teenager, and they popped into my head one day when I was painting a pair of figs. But I didn't want to "waste" my fresh figs on a recipe that is best made with dried figs, so it went on the backburner for a while.

In recent months, during "all this" (and that's all I'm going to say about the pan*em*c), many grocery items have been hard to find. I was so happy to get my hands on some lovely organic soft dried figs last week, so at last, fig rolls. 

So many recipes out there have grossly mismatched amounts of dough and filling. What's the point of having massive amounts of filling left over? My recipe uses all the filling, and I make three round cookies out of the pastry trimmings, so there's no waste.

My dough recipe is adapted from Paul Hollywood's, but I was on my own for the filling because his and so many other recipes make too much for the amount of dough and are not to my taste in one way or another

If you're used to Fig Newtons, you'll find these are not quite as sweet (and they have no corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, unhealthy oils or additives). A trivia question for you: Were Fig Newtons named after a) Sir Isaac Newton, b) another person named Newton, c) a town in Massachusetts?

Please Pin it and share it!

Fig Rolls - Fig Newtons

(Makes 12)

The Dough

1 1/4 dip-and-sweep cups (6.25 ounces/177 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon non-GMO baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3 firmly packed tablespoons (1.31 ounces/37 grams) dark brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten (medium in UK)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Filling

3/4 packed cup (5 ounces/142 grams) coarsely chopped soft dried figs

1 firmly packed tablespoon (0.44 ounces/12 grams) dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/3 cup (2.67 fluid ounces/79 ml) water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

2 In medium mixing bowl with electric hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar well, about 2 minutes. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined; it will look curdled. 

3 On low speed, add the flour mixture in two or three batches until thoroughly combined. Scrape dough out onto a square of plastic wrap (clingfilm), forming it into a smooth square as you wrap it. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

4 Make the filling. In a 1-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring chopped figs, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and water to a boil. Reduce heat, cover (lid slightly ajar) and simmer for 10 minutes, until mixture is thick and water is absorbed. Transfer* to a 2-cup glass measure, use an immersion blender to make a paste, stir in lemon juice, and let cool.

* The mixture will not be sufficiently deep even in the small saucepan to use the immersion blender, so you need to transfer it to a deeper, narrower container, such as the 2-cup glass measure. 

5 Preheat oven to 375F/190C/Gas5. On a lightly floured piece of baking parchment paper, roll out chilled dough to a rectangle over 10x8 inches (25x20 cm) and 1/8 inch (1/3 cm) thick. Trim* rectangle to 10x8 inches (25x20 cm). Cut in half lengthwise to make two 10x4-inch (25x10 cm) strips of dough. Also, cut the parchment paper in half because you'll be using it to help you fold over the dough after filling. 

* I save the trimmings and make them into 3 round cookies.

6 Spread half the fig filling down the center of each dough strip and carefully fold in one side of the dough, using the parchment to help you; run a wet finger over the edge of the dough over the filling. Using the parchment, fold over the other side of the dough, overlapping the first side a bit and pressing to seal. Turn the two logs over, seam-side down. Trim the ends and cut each into 6 equal slices. Place them on the baking sheet on their parchment. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Note: Before trimming the ends and cutting the slices, you can press the two logs down a bit to make a flat top, as I do, or leave them round as some do. 

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites. We are a ThermoWorks affiliate, earning a small commission at no cost to you on purchases made through our links. This helps cover some of the costs of running the blog. Thank you for your support. 

Jean