Not All Carrot Cake is Created Equal

I have never met a carrot cake I could refuse (see here and here and here). I am also an unapologetic cupcake lover. You may remember my cupcake fixation of last summer and the regular Friday visits to the IcedGems cupcake truck that parks outside my office (see here and  here and here). Part of this weekly habit included lengthy discussions with the IcedGems employee within about the merits of carrot cake. Even though I gave up the cupcake habit several months ago, I walked out to the truck last week with a colleague. And, even though I didn't buy anything, I did pitch my weekly appeal for carrot cake.

This week, my efforts paid off. As I strolled past the truck during my lunchtime outing, I spotted on the menu the long awaited carrot cake.

A few moments and about $3 later (the price was recently increased), I had my IcedGems carrot cake in hand. The guy in the truck let me know that my persistance was one of the reasons for the carrot cake addition. He says that the owners of IcedGems take their customers' options very seriously and value their high regard. I have to admit I find this to be a sound business practice, especially since they decided to agree with me.

Back at my desk, I lapsed into another "bad" habit and promptly wipped out the iPhone to take some photos, and my apologies for the poor quality. It's unfortunate that my current life prohibits me from taking the Canon 7D everywhere. Believe me, I would if I could.

The cupcake was much smaller than usual, but the exterior looked as appealing and promising as always. It was crowned with a perfect dollop of icing and an attractive garnish. I liked that they substituted sprinkles for the more traditional icing carrot, too, for the whimsical aesthetic it presents - very much in keeping with their overall image.

The promise of impending satisfaction

Now, after months of customer devotion to these guys, and a consistent level of satisfaction, my expectations were pretty high. I was braced for a little disappointment when the guy in the truck warned me of the raisins at the time of purchase. Even so, I was not prepared for the sheet volume of raisins - both regular and golden - that filled the cupcake. That, combined with a very coarse grate of carrot, made for a less than satisfying carrot cake experience for several reasons:

1. All that fruit weighs down the cake batter and prevents the normal leavening that occurs during the baking process. You end up with a short, squat cake that is missing that delectable golden mound of cake rising up out of the cupcake paper. If it's the best part of the muffin, it's certainly the best part of the cupcake.
2. It also interferes with the texture of the cake and weakens the crumb. Usually when I get a cupcake, I break off the top. This is partly to test the texture of the cake, and partly because it makes it easier to eat. A good cupcake should have a nice separation point just below the mark left by the paper cup, leaving two complete halves. Some crumb is nice, but a crumble is a sign of a dry cake. The IcedGems carrot cake did not want to separate. It took great care on my part to remove the crown without destroying it altogether. This is what too much stuff can do to a cake. 
3. It mutes the wonderful flavor of what is usually a very nice cake. Similar to the CakeLove carrot cake, the IcedGems carrot cake was just plain overstuffed. Which is unfortunate because they really do make the best cake in town. And the actual cake part of their carrot cake was excellent. It was spicy with nutmeg and cinnamon and what tasted like a hint of ginger and was the most perfectly-spiced carrot cake I've ever had.

There's more raisin than cake

The icing was also spot-on - dense and tangy with cream cheese that coated the inside of my mouth and clung to my teeth as they cried out in agony. This slightly-tart, supremely-sweet icing was the perfect complement to their wonderfully-earthy, perfectly-spiced cake.

IcedGems is still my favorite guilty pleasure. I will continue to bring my coworkers out to their truck on Friday afternoons. As I recover from the endless January flu, I'll probably break a couple of Resolutions and resume my Friday habit.

I'm also quite happy that they presented me with a carrot cake option today. There are few things as valuable as a business that listens to their customers. IcedGems is not only a superlative bakery, but a contientious business and a vital component of the Baltimore food scene.

Easy as Pie?

There are some who would say the term "easy as pie" comes from the ease at which one can make a pie crust from scratch. The simplest recipe I know comes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook Sixth Edition (circa 1986) and contains all of three ingredients: flour, shortening and a little ice water. Simple, but deceptively so. One wrong move spells disaster. I once made this pie crust with the wrong flour and was doomed. I was on a white whole wheat kick and had been getting really nice results with breads and other baked goods. In pie crust, however, the results I got could have been used to patch the roof.

So, when making pie crust from scratch, it is important to follow the recipe, especially if you are new to this. After a little practice, you get a feel for what the tolerances are, and you can deviate all you like. My counterpart puts egg in his crust.

Also many people fear the home made pie crust due to the potential mess. With the right  equipment, the clean up is a snap.

And, it really is worth the effort. The pre-made frozen crusts are a convenience, but once you fill one of them with a nice, made from scratch filling, all those additives in the crust really stand out. A few years ago, I was a judge for a holiday bake-off at work. All entries were to be made from scratch. One woman entered a really lovely chocolate silk pie that she did indeed make from scratch. Except for the crust. Next to her superior filling, the phony crust was obvious.

For this afternoon's pie, I turned to another reliable standby, The Joy of Cooking Cookbook (1997 edition) and made the Deluxe Butter Flaky Pastry Dough.

First, the tools:

In addition to my measuring cups and flour sifter, I have a pastry blender, a silicon rolling pin, a large plastic cutting board, and a pie mat. These are basics in making a pie crust without making a mess.

Next, lightly mix together:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (unless the recipe states otherwise, this is the flour to use)

1 tsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

Then add 2 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter. I cut mine into smaller pieces as it makes the next step easier.

There are a couple of approaches to blending the cold, hard butter into the flour mixture. You can use a butter knife, but this will take a good bit of time and is a bit of a pain in the ass. Or, you can use the pastry blender. A poor one will not make much difference. A good one will make all the difference in the world. If you're serious about baking and doing things from scratch, this is a sound investment.

The concept is to break up the butter into small pieces that are coated with flour without softening the butter too much. A chopping motion is very effective. You should end up with pieces about the size of peas.

You should have 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice-cold water nearby. Drizzle the 1/3 cup into the dough. At this point, I prefer to work it by hand, which I readily admit is a tad messy. Keep it in the bowl and the mess is contained. Also do not do a full-on knead like you're making bread. The objective is to just get things to stick together - any heavier working changes the composition of the flour, and your crust will be nothing better than subflooring material.

Once you can form a ball with the dough, you're done. Clumps of butter are desirable here.

Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes before rolling it out. You can set it right in the refrigerator, or wrap it in plastic wrap first. While it is resting, prepare your filling.

A big help in rolling out a pie crust (or any other dough) are a silicon rolling pin and a pie mat. The dough won't stick to them the way it will to other surfaces, and these items are easier to clean that a wooden rolling pin and your countertop. Plus, the pie mat has circles that correspond to common sizes of pie plates.

So, ideally, your ball of dough will roll out into a perfect fit for your pie plate.

Even if you have superior tools like these, you will still need some flour. My preferred method is to drop a small handful of flour on top, flatten the ball slightly, flip it over, and repeat. This covers the surface area of the dough and the mat. Roll the dough out from the center to the edges until you have enough to cover the surface of your pie plate.

I got my dough just about evenly rolled to the corresponding circle for my pie plate. Just to make sure, this is also a good visual technique.

There is also a trick to getting it from the pie mat into the pie plate. I do not have photos as I was working solo. Basically, you place parchment paper over the rolled out crust. Then, place the large plastic cutting board over the parchment paper. Placing one hand on top of the cutting board, gently lift the mat off the counter top and flip the whole thing over so that the map is on the top. Place everything back on the counter top and peel the mat off of the dough. Gently flip it over again onto your pie plate with the cutting board now on top. Remove the board and the parchment paper, and the hard part is over. And you will notice that most of the flour is either on the crust or on the mat, not all over the counter or the floor or you.

Use your fingers to shape the dough into the plate, filling in any gaps. Then, trim the overhang with a knife and press the edges into the rim of the plate. And, you can do what my mother always used to do with the trimmings: lay them on a metal cookie sheet, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, and bake until golden. These are a nice treat and a good preview of your crust before you serve it to others.

You can either pre-bake your crust or fill it right away. If you pre-bake it, you'll need to add weight to it to prevent it from bubbling up. You can buy pie weights if you like. These are just metal balls that fill a pie plate. Or, you can take another hint from my mom and just use a cup or so of dried  beans. Note that once the beans are used for this purpose, they can't really be used for anything else. Store them in a container with your other baking supplies until needed.

I made the filling and crumb topping from the Apple Sour Cream Pie recipe in my good old Betty Crocker Cookbook and baked as instructed.

Happy Long Weekend!