• Registered: 16-12-2011
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

Hi, I am new to the site and hope someone can help me out.

I made a carrot cake for my cousins house-warming party upon his request. Everyone loved it but they could only eat a small quantity as they said it was too sweet. Now, I didn't try it as firstly, carrot cake has never appealed to me and secondly, it contained walnuts which I'm allergic to. So, I don't know how much to adjust the sweetness by and  how I would even do that. I was told the cake was very sweet. (It's the Hummingbird recipe).

My cousin wants me to make it again for a dinner party but has asked me to reduce the sweetness. The recipe called for 300g of soft light brown sugar. I read a tip saying to reduce the sweetness, use half light brown sugar and half muscavado sugar.

Would this work or does anyone have any other tips?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Last edited by MariB (16-12-2011 04:49:30)

  • Registered: 28-07-2011
  • Posts: 228

Re: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

Hi Mari,

I would have thought the answer to your question was obvious. If you are having a problem with the particular recipe you are using, try another recipe. It's not as if carrot cake can only be made in one way. On the contrary, there must be hundreds of different recipes available.

You say the recipe calls for 300 g of sugar. The recipe I use calls for less than half that amount. I'm not aware of any problem with sweetness. (For what it's worth, the recipe I use is here: Carrot cake recipe.. I'm not saying this is the one you should use. I'm just giving it as an example of a recipe that seems OK from the sweetness point of view, but that has relatively little sugar.)

Also, you say you can't eat carrot cake because it contains walnuts, to which you are allergic. So why not just leave out the walnuts? It will still be a valid carrot cake.

Mike

  • Registered: 16-12-2011
  • Posts: 3

Re: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

Thanks Mike, I appreciate your response.

The reason I was sticking to the recipe is that it was well received apart the sweetness of it and so I would want to use a recipe that I know people would like. Thought it would be easier to adjust that recipe as opposed to try a new one. I have managed to google a recipe today which has positive reviews so will most probably try that.

You are definitely right re the sugar content of this recipe, having spent some time googling recipes with similar quantites to Hummingbird's recipe, they use far more sugar than any other.

Also, I added the walnuts as my cousin adores them and I did make it for him originally.

Thank you once again for your advice and recipe.

Mari

Last edited by MariB (17-12-2011 21:56:44)

  • Registered: 28-07-2011
  • Posts: 228

Re: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

You're welcome, Mari.

For what it's worth, I've always found Hummingbird recipes too sweet. I've never tried their carrot cake, but their general cupcake recipes all have too much sugar for my taste. So you're not alone.

Good luck in your effots. Let us know how you get on.

Mike

  • Registered: 03-01-2012
  • Posts: 1

Re: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

Our menus this week travel from Asia to Italy, with a fabulous fish dish and a quick sandwich supper,  Citrus flavors jump-start the week, then it's on to spicy and veggie menus and pizza, of course, for Friday night!

Three Clover Pizza

  • Registered: 19-09-2010
  • Posts: 31

Re: Carrot Cake too sugary - how do I adjust

Hello Mari, this is the recipe I use, but I only add 150ml of oil instead of the 175ml as I found it a little greasy. Have even got one of my friends who said that vegatables in cakes are wrong to eat it again and again.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3229 … arrot-cake