Rabbit’s Carrot Cake Loaves

Rabbit’s Carrot Cake is an old recipe from The Fanny Farmer Cookbook. The last time I made it I changed it up a bit and made it as cupcakes. However, this week I needed something for a breakfast event and made it as a loaf. So technically it’s carrot cake, but since it’s in a loaf shape I’m calling it carrot bread. Sneaky, eh?

Rabbit’s Carrot Cake is loaded with spices, but they don’t overwhelm the flavor. It’s a fairly dark carrot cake to begin with, but since discovering that adding a teaspoon or two of cocoa powder to carrot cake makes it darker, I added a little cocoa powder and got a dark, not-too-sweet, moist carrot bread with a fairly tight crumb.

The original recipe says to make it in two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans, but when I attempted to divide the batter between two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans, it was only a few inches high in each pan. I suspect the original version is supposed to make two rectangular cakes (for cutting into squares) as opposed to two loaves (for slicing). Since I wanted more of a bread, I poured all of the batter into one pan (it still had at least an inch to climb) and adjusted the bake time accordingly.

After cooling completely and sitting overnight, the carrot cake sliced nicely and I was able to serve it as a bread. However, I’m going to make it again in cake form and frost it. I’ll update with more photos when I do. For now, it makes a very good bread.

Print Recipe

Rabbit's Carrot Cake Loaves

Rabbit's Carrot Cake is a dark, not-too-sweet, carrot cake disguised as carrot bread. If you add a cream cheese frosting it's rich enough for dessert, but served as is it's perfect for breakfast or brunch.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time55 mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24

Author: Cookie Madness

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice or use juice from the pineapple
• 1/2 cup canned crushed pineapple drained dry
• 1 1/2 cups 7 oz weight all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt **
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped and toasted pecans

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch or an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, toss the carrots with the lemon juice and stir in the pineapple. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and cocoa. Whisk for about 3 minutes or until mixture is very thoroughly blended.
• Pour oil into flour mixture and stir until fully blended. Add the eggs, one by one, stirring until blended. Stir in the vanilla, then stir in the carrot mixture. When well blended, go ahead and stir in the nuts.
• Transfer batter to the loaf pan and bake for an hour, checking after 45 minutes and shielding top with foil. If you are baking two loaves (divided between two pans), the cakes should be ready in 45 minutes, but one loaf will take an hour. Internal temperature should be at least 205F.
• Let cool for about 30 minutes in the pan, then carefully loosen and remove.
• Let cool completely.

Notes

The original version calls for a teaspoon of salt. I used a teaspoon and everyone loved the cake. However, I think 3/4 teaspoon or a very scant teaspoon of salt would be even better.