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The Ultimate Makeover: Carrot Cake

Angela Nilsen rethinks traditional ingredients and baking techniques to create a healthier version of a classic

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
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The Ultimate Makeover: Carrot Cake

Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The Ultimate Makeover: Carrot Cake

Cuts into 16 squares
Prep30 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

862Calories
29 gProtein
16 gFat
152 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Rapeseed Oilnot in our table0

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

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Orange + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (orange, raisin, flour, cinnamon, sugar, egg, cheese):

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

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