Where to find the BEST carrot cake [Food/Vendor]

2010 Nov 5
Where do go to find the best carrot cake?

My husbands birthday is fast approaching and he loooves carrot cake. Has to be moist, not too sweet, and have that thick, not too gooey, not too hard, not too sweet creamcheese icing.

I've yet to find a recipe I (or should I say he) really likes, and don't have time to make a bunch of less than perfect cake!

Any suggestions?


2010 Nov 5
earlier post on my quest for carrot cake. so far, the best i have had is bridgehead. last week i got a piece from thyme & again. it was full of extras and was almost christmas cake like (with a giant! topping of icing). it was ok, but you have to be really keen on additions.

here is the link from previous:

Forum - LF carrot cake - hintonburg/wellington/glebe/preston

instead of one carrot cake, why don't you buy many pieces of carrot cake and have a birthday party taste off? (and report back of course).

2010 Nov 5
For me hands down the carrot cake at The Cake Shop
Has all the elements you asked for plus a topping oh orange flavored white chocolate which goes beautifully with the spice and cream cheese..

2010 Nov 5
I made a carrot cake for my SIL's birthday back in March and wouldn't you know it, I didn't post it to my blog. Sigh.

If I recall, I used this recipe ( www.epicurious.com), but added 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, which gave it an amazing spicey flavour to it. It was pretty good. I reduced the amount of icing sugar in the icing to 3 cups, and while it gave me a creamier icing, it also wasn't so sweet.

On the other hand, I like HFF's idea of a taste off...

2010 Nov 5
Birthday party taste off??? That's brilliant, HFF! Not sure if I can pull it off, but to me sounds like hedging my bets.

Where do I find The Cake Shop, cakelady? If you must know, I'm a bit of a hick that doesn't get into the city much. lol!

I'll check out the recipe too LWB, maybe for the holidays, I've got loads of really sweet carrots.

2010 Nov 5
Organic girl, here is the page for The Cake Shop. There are a bunch of small bakeries in Wellington West, Three Tarts, Thyme and Again, Three Bakers and a Bike and Harvest Loaf, who do carrot cake, so you might be able to pick say, three of the four and do a taste off that way?

2010 Nov 6
If you come downtown, here is where I'd suggest picking up carrot cake to try:

Wellington West (between Island Park Drve & Holland Ave):
Three Tarts
Harvest Loaf
Three Bakers & a Bike
Bridgehead Coffee Shop
Thyme & Again

Glebe:
Second Ave Sweets (2nd ave & Bank)
The Flour Shoppe (I'd call and ask first, Strathcona & Bank)

Ottawa South:
Life of Pie (Bank & Sunnyside)

There are probably others I have forgotten or am not aware of

2010 Nov 6
I'm a bit late to the party, but I'd echo LWB's endorsement of the triple-layer carrot cake recipe on Epicurious. It's definitely worth trying at some point. The texture and taste are fantastic. (I also cut the sugar in the frosting, though I can't remember by how much, and achieved a good texture and sweetness level that way).

2010 Nov 6
I made the carrot cake from Rose's Heavenly Cakes as a test wedding cake for someone, and they loved it.

2010 Nov 29
Birthday Carrot Cake Taste Off Results!!!

After looking up the shops suggested for my ‘best carrot cake search’, I decided on the ones that were located on Bank. I ended up stopping at 6 places, but only purchased cakes from four. These were the shops:

First stop was while I was at the Ottawa Organic Farmers Market. I got one of Michelle’s little carrot cakes. Gluten free, organic, and loaded with maple syrup.

Next stop was Trillium Bakery, because I saw it on my way to Life of Pie. Looked like a nice, quaint place, and really spoke to my love of healthy baked goods. Didn’t purchase anything though, because there was nothing even remotely carrot cake like.

Third was Life of Pie. I purchased the ONLY cake type thing they had on display, because I thought my kids would like it and it would distract them whilst their father was trying all his cupcakes! It was a Candy Cane Cupcake.

Then on to Second Avenue Sweets. Now this place is a sugar lovers dream! The display case was loaded with giant, heavily frosted cupcakes of all kinds, and I tried not to pay attention to all the cheese cakes and chocolaty things, I was shopping for my husband after all. I purchased two carrot cake cupcakes (two in case they were really good), as well as a vanilla and a toffee cupcake. I got the last two because I know those were flavours he would appreciate if the carrot cake wasn’t good, and I figured the kids would dig the them too.

I saw Bridgehead before I got to Second Ave Sweets, and stopped in. I wasn’t brave enough to brave the line. I wanted to get home while it was light, because doing chores in the dark sucks.

Lastly, The Flour Shoppe. Very fancy-schmancy for cupcake shop, but I liked the simple display. They didn’t have carrot cake that day, so I went with a ginger cupcake, which I thought would be carrot-cake-like in it’s flavour. I also got a peanut butter and a vanilla because, well,,, because.

So how did they taste?

Hubby started with the Carrot Cupcake from Second Ave Sweets. There is a reason their name has ‘sweets’ in it! The sugar was pretty intense. The cake it self was moist and tasty, the frosting was missing that cream cheese flavour, and the texture of the frosting was different than what I would have expected.

Then on to the Ginger cupcake from The Flour Shop. Again, nice flavour, and very pretty look to this cake. It was a tad dry, but if you sliced it in half and spread out the icing so each bite had some, it was good.

My kids tried the vanilla from Second Ave Sweets, and to my shock and surprise, they had a few bites and said they didn’t like it. I tried it and then understood. The icing tasted like what I think shortening with sugar would taste like. Ick. Same for the Toffee cupcake. Every cupcake from Second Ave Sweets got full marks for looks and size, but I guess my family is more crunchy-granola than I realized. Taste was way too sweet and artificial for our liking. I have a feeling that their cheese cake would be more palatable to us. Or maybe some of their chocolate goodies. I am willing to try them again, the display was just so impressive!

By the time we tried the vanilla and peanut butter chocolate cupcakes from The Flour Shoppe, I think my pancreas was starting to cry. However, the peanut butteriness helped balance the sweet. One of my kids really liked the vanilla. The Flour Shoppe gets top marks for display as well, these were such little works of art. The flavours tasted more ‘real’ to us, and they didn’t seem as intensely sweet, or maybe by then we had become desensitized from all the refined sugar!

The one I had the least hope in overall when compared to the others, my kids LOVED! The Candy Cane Cupcake from Life of Pie. Should have got a bunch of those, my husband didn’t even get a taste of that one as the kids scarfed down their piece so fast.

It should also be said that all staff I dealt with were friendly and helpful, and I would return to all the shops I went to..

Lessoned learned from this birthday cake taste off?

1) Shopping without my kids is fabulous.

2) I must have a parking angel looking out for me, because I found a spot right in front of each shop for my farm truck.

3) Birthday cake taste offs are fun and may happen more often in our home.

4) The best carrot cake is the one you make yourself. I’ll try that recipe that was suggested by LWB!

Oh, and what happened to the uber-healthy, gluten free, maple syrup carrot cake from the Ottawa Organic Farmers Market? I made the mistake of putting it within my reach on the way home. All the other cupcakes were safely stowed in boxes in the back of the farm truck. But Michelle’s little carrot cake was right were I could reach it, and the smell of the spice and the syrup was taunting me after a long day of work and after being in all those shops! It didn’t make it past Hunt Club. Tasty and filling. Don’t tell my husband. ;-)

Photo:
Starting at the pink cake and going counter clock wise:
Candycane Cupcake – Life of Pie
Vanilla cupcake – The Flour Shoppe
Toffee cupcake – Second Ave Sweets
Carrot cupcake - Second Ave Sweets
Vanilla cupcake – Second Ave Sweets
Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake – The Flour Shoppe
Ginger Cupcake – The Flour Shoppe




2010 Nov 29
oops! Forgot the photo!

2010 Nov 29
If you are ever in Perth the Sunflower bakery has delicious carrot cake.
They also have pagnotta bread, which I have tried to reproduce, but with no luck.
I just recently made a carrot cake with a recipe from Epicurious Nov 2007. I'm not a great carrot cake fan but my husband loved it. His thought that the icing did not taste very sweet. I halved the icing and had lots to spread on the carrot cake loaf. Maybe the cream cheese makes icing not as sweet as cake icing.

2010 Nov 29
I wish I could help. We don't eat Carrot Cake because the Dragonlady used to work at a bakery that I won't name.

She was yelled at because she refused to sell the Carrot Cake that had been sitting, unrefrigerated in the hot sun for two days. Ever since then the thought of tainted cream cheese icing just makes her stomach turn.

Thus, I get no carrot love.
Can someone give me a hug? Preferably with a bit of icing?

2010 Nov 29
Edna Staebler's carrot cake recipe in "Food that Really Schmecks" has been our family birthday cake of choice for over 30 years. I make it exactly according to her recipe (including the cream cheese icing) and it turns out yummy every time.

2010 Nov 30
Swiss pastries sells carrot cake-they usually have some slices and there is not too much icing-and if i recall they have a cute icing carrot on them too!
Can't remember what it tastes like as I usually get other things there..

Second ave Sweets,I find their cupcakes have too much icing for my liking.
Also cupcakes have a lot of filling and I usually like simpler things.

Aunty Loo's bakery on Bronson I'm sure she does carrot cake-but she changes what she makes every day,so maybe call and ask.
Her bakery is vegan and really good.
the icing on her cupcakes is not that much,but it is tasty and good.

I also think Golden Baguette has a carrot cake muffin that is good,but there is no icing-so you can't really say it is a "cupcake".
I guess you could always put icing on it youself?
I really dislike cream cheese in anything,so for me a carrot cake muffin is good!

Aunty Loos bakery is at 507 Bronson
hours are: Tues-Fri 3-6:30pm
Saturday 8am-2pm

not much hours,but it is a super small bakery. I think she has 1 employee right now sometimes.

2011 Feb 8
lwb - i'm going to attempt your carrot cake recipe. any suggestions beyond adding cardamom and reducing icing sugar?

2011 Feb 8
We have made John Baricelli's carrot cake a couple of times to great acclaim. The candied carrot strips used to make it look like a ribbon-wrapped present are a nice touch. Ours looked nicer than Martha's, but we spent a lot of time getting the "ribbons" just right.
www.marthastewart.com

2011 Feb 8
blubarry - thanks for the link. to be honest, it might be one fantastic cake, but i am an anti-martha girl. whenever i see anything by martha i think "you'll never get that time back".


2011 Feb 8
hipfunky - It's not really Martha's recipe, maybe that's why she got lazy with the carrot "ribbons" and did such slipshod work. I admit that it took us two full days to get this one perfect and beautiful. Only for love would I do it again.

2011 Feb 10
blubarry - oh the crazy things we do for love ;)

i appreciate people who love food presentation and want to devote hours of time to getting it right, it's just not the way i roll. i love to cook, but tend to encourage people to serve themselves right off the stove and skip the fussy/extra dirty dishes serving step in between. pure laziness :)


2011 Feb 19
i made the carrot cake mentioned above and it was delicious. it has a pound of carrots in it, so i'm counting it as a serving of vegetables ;)

www.epicurious.com

i added the extra 1/2 tsp ground cardamom in the cake batter. for the icing i used only 3 cups sugar, plus a little honey and cinnamon. thumbs up by everyone!

also note, it was really quick to make, not fussy at all. i used my food processor to shred the carrots, so even easier!

2019 Jun 27
I really like different cakes and sweets. Carrot cake is my favorite since childhood. I also love mousse cake. Here is the best recipe club.cooking

2019 Jun 28
Shillbot likes mousse.

2019 Jun 28
Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër? See the løveli lakes. The wøndërful telephøne system. And mäni interesting furry animals. The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used are fictitious and any similarity to the names, characters, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional. Signed RICHARD M. NIXON. Including the majestik møøse. A Møøse once bit my sister... No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies: "The Høt Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Mølars of Horst Nordfink"... We apologise for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked. Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti... We apologise again for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked. Møøse trained by YUTTE HERMSGERVØRDENBRØTBØRDA. Special Møøse Effects OLAF PROT. Møøse Costumes SIGGI CHURCHILL. Møøse Choreographed by HORST PROT III. Miss Taylor's Møøses by HENGST DOUGLAS-HOME. Møøse trained to mix concrete and sign complicated insurance forms by JURGEN WIGG. Møøses' noses wiped by BJØRN IRKESTØM-SLATER WALKER. Large møøse on the left hand side of the screen in the third scene from the end, given a thorough grounding in Latin, French, and "O" Level Geography by BO BENN. Suggestive poses for the Møøse suggested by VIC ROTTER. Antler-care by LIV THATCHER. The directors of the firm hired to continue the credits after the other people had been sacked, wish it to be known that they have just been sacked. The credits have been completed in an entirely different style at great expense and at the last minute. Executive Producer JOHN GOLDSTONE & "RALPH" The Wonder Llama. Producer MARK FORSTATER. Assisted By EARL J. LLAMA, MIKE Q. LLAMA III, SY LLAMA, MERLE Z. LLAMA IX. Directed By 40 SPECIALLY TRAINED ECUADORIAN MOUNTAIN LLAMAS, 6 VENEZUELAN RED LLAMAS, 142 MEXICAN WHOOPING LLAMAS, 14 NORTH CHILEAN GUANACOS (CLOSELY RELATED TO THE LLAMA), REG LLAMA OF BRIXTON, 76000 BATTERY LLAMAS FROM "LLAMA-FRESH" FARMS LTD. NEAR PARAGUAY, and TERRY GILLIAM & TERRY JONES.

2019 Jun 28
You had me at Møøse Costumes!

2019 Jun 28
I need to rewatch the old Monty Python shows, they are so good. . . . .