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Dessert

Carrot Cake III

A moist carrot cake with pecans, topped with a butter and cream cheese frosting.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Carrot Cake III

Oven350 degrees F (175 degrees C)
Time40 to 50 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

  2. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.

  3. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

  4. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans.

  5. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake and cool

  1. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

  2. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Make and add the frosting

  1. In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans.

  2. Frost the cooled cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1141Calories
24 gProtein
62 gFat
122 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pecans1 oz (28g / ~19 halves)196
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream Cheese1 oz (28g)99
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Cinnamon + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together981 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Cinnamon + pecanstop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Vanilla + pecanstop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,691 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Vegetable oil
Keeps the cake moist and tender by coating flour proteins and staying liquid when cool.
All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
Baking soda
Reacts with acidic ingredients to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking to give the cake lift and a lighter crumb.
Grated carrots
Add moisture and natural sweetness, keeping the cake soft over time.

The step that matters

Baking until a toothpick comes out clean. Underbaking leaves wet batter in the center that can sink or collapse as it cools, while overbaking dries the crumb. Checking the center with a toothpick confirms the structure has set without drying the cake.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, pecans, butter):

  1. Sweet potatofits better
  2. Arrowrootfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, pecans, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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