Carrot Cake 2.0

When I was a kid, the very name of it made me cringe. Carrots in cake? No thanks. I took my carrots with a jar of peanut butter like any other respectable 8-year-old. It was like…cake for grown-ups or something. Which was reason enough to want to remain a child for all of eternity, to be honest. No one had even told me yet about taxes, heartbreak, and the incredible pressure of being responsible for others. I just knew that if carrot cake was what grown-ups were eating, I wanted no part of it.

I was forced to try it. Self-imposed, probably, but carrot cake was my mom’s favorite cake, which meant that on August 19 every year, a carrot cake would be served at our table with birthday candles for my mother. At some point in my life I realized that having manners meant that you ate what was served to you and gave compliments…or at the very least, polite words and a smile.

What I came to understand, much to my surprise, is that it actually wasn’t too bad! And the FROSTING, oh my gosh why had no one ever given me cream cheese frosting before this point?

Here’s the thing, though. Even though 10-year-old me figured out that carrot cake did not make becoming an adult so incredibly horrific…I was savvy enough to realize that something was still lacking.

I now know what that is, thanks in part to my son, who “introduced” me to the Dessert Person on YouTube. It’s spice. It’s the word “emulsified,” which was an instruction in the recipe that I had to figure out (turns out oil and water actually can mix on occasion). It’s the insistence that the baker pay attention to the minutia of each ingredient in order to bring out the best finished product possible. “Fiddly,” as Ruby would say on the Great British Baking Show. But worth it.

Here is a clip of the Dessert Person baking her delightful carrot cake recipe…so amazing that even a kid wouldn’t question their impending adult life when presented with a slice. (And use her cream cheese frosting recipe as well…it’s the best I’ve ever tasted!)