My carrot cake tastes bitter. Does any one know why?!
INGREDIENTS
* 4 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
* 2 cups white sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3 cups grated carrots
Answers:
I think there could be a couple of reasons. One: that seems to be a lot of baking soda and baking powder for two cups of flour. See if it helps if you make it using three cups of flour. Alternatively, leave out the baking soda and baking powder and use self-rising flour, which has the right proportions. The second reason could be that you are using old large carrots -- the older larger carrots are more bitter. Finally, and I didn’t learn this for a long time, DON’T STORE CARROTS AND APPLES NEXT TO EACH OTHER. There’s something in apples that makes carrots taste bitter.
...but, it sounds like you had too many carrots and nothing sweet in the recipe to balance out the bitter. I have an awesome recipe that doesn't have an after taste that you're more than welcome to try...
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups Wesson vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 whole eggs
2 oz. chopped pecans
2 oz. raisins
1 very small can crushed pineapple, juice included
Mix flour and spices in large bowl. In another bowl, mix sugar, eggs, and oil. After all of the moist bowl mixture is blended, gradually pour into large bowl with flour and spice mixture. Blend all together and pour in the pineapple, carrots, pecans, and raisins. Bake in cake pan at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.
I use cream cheese icing:
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 box of 10x powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 stick butter
blend together until creamy and spread
Throw chopped pecans on top of cake for appearance at end and serve! Enjoy!
It could be the carrots themselves. Taste them first. Some carrots are old and bitter; others fresh and sweet. For cake, I buy organic -- or a bunch of slender carrots with tops. You will taste the difference, at least that's been my experience. I'll be watching to see what others say.
I find this. http://obuyo.info/149627/ground-cinnamon
http://obuyo.info/149627/ground-cinnamon
It's bitter because you're posting this on the Alcohol Board.
something wrong with the carrots.
Most likely the carrots
I make an eggless carrot cake which uses only baking powder. Baking soda usually reacts with a sour substance (i.e. yoghurt, buttermilk, citrus-juice) which seems to be missing from your recipe. I would try using just one of the raising agents to see if the taste improves.
Check the brand of baking powder you’re using - I have noticed that not all are the same and that some have more of a specific ingredient (I don’t know which one, though) which leaves a bitter aftertaste. Ask at your local organic store if they can perhaps suggest an alternative.
My cake recipe calls for light brown sugar which I think improves the flavour.
I hope this helps!
