So who made the first Carrot Cake?
Since the modern day carrot was developed most likely in Persia, or Afghanistan , some of the oldest recipes come from the middle east but they are very different than modern day Carrot Cake.
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Uncle Wiggily's Carrot Cake |
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Why use carrots in a cake anyway ?
During the middle ages (roughly 500-1500) sugar was scarce in Europe and carrots were used to sweeten the cake. Carrots in Europe are where we got the "roots" of our modern Carrot Cake recipe carrots were very plentiful. Sugar wasn't always.
It took centuries before the modern carrot was bred and easy enough to grow in gardens and be used for such things as puddings and other desserts in Europe. So though the recipes were there it didn't become mainstream until the availability of the multi faceted orange vegetable.
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The picture above is a depiction labeled "garden" carrot from the Juliana Anicia Codex, a 6th-century AD Constantinopolitan copy of Dioscorides' 1st-century Greek pharmacopoeia. The facing page states that "the root can be cooked and eaten."
Wiki
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The word carrot is possible from a word that depicts sweetness. Another reason that it was eyeballed as a great sweetner for desserts.
Where did the name "Carrot" come from?
The word carrot is possible from a word that depicts sweetness. Another reason that it was eyeballed as a great sweetner for desserts.
What do you mean when you say the modern day Carrot was hiding from from our ancestors?
Carrots weren't always used for their roots.
Carrot seeds were found in ancient Germany and other parts of Europe and were likely used to season with, since cilantro and caraway are in the same family as carrots. Also the leaves were used for different culinary uses. It wasn't till the 14th century that the roots started being used for eating.
Carrots and carrot cake helped to defeat Germany in WW2.
The British ministry of Food ran a campaign for eating carrots in the 40's telling the public that they would really improve eyesight so you could see in the dark. Then they had blackout periods where light was not allowed and the German Luftwafte couldn't locate where to drop their bombs. It was not exactly true but a lot of recipes for carrot cake, pudding and treats were passed around.
Also sugar was rationed to 8 oz. or 230 grams per week.so carrots became popular to sweeten cakes and cookies
Carrot Fudge is o ne of the more interesting cake like recipes that was developed and passed around during those painful times but thankfully modified to be better today.
The campaign was adopted in the U.S. later on although I don't see many recipes published for Carrot Fudge. Carrot Cake recipes did abound.
What were some of the early recipes for Carrot Cake?
The Middle East 10th century
From the Food Timeline I read this really interesting Arabic 10th century carrot pudding-cake recipe that was just mashed carrots in a mortar and pestle, honey and walnut oil simmered with a certain technique. when cooled it became firm and delicious.
In Europe starting in the Middle Ages
Carrots once they were introduced into Europe became a good choice to sweeten a pudding or a cake (pudding is a name for a dessert in England) as mentiioned earlier sugar was scarce. There are many recipes for a kind of steamed cake called plum pudding that to this day is still popular.
below is an example. During the holidays it was often flamed with a bit of brandy.
Many carrot cake recipes were more like a pumpkin pie that was baked in pastry similar to a pie crust.
In the 20th century here are some cakes published in the newspapers
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