silver palate
carrot
cake

go straight to the recipe

The Silver Palate was one of New York’s most famous bakeries and closed in 1993. We started making this wonderful cake in the early eighties when Mistresss Augustine’s first opened and well before we morphed into a restaurant. Although, sadly closed their recipes are still widely used in good bakehouses and their recipe book ‘The Silver Palate Cookbook’ is still in print click here

It was very popular and carrot cake was almost unheard of in 1981. We made so much of it that eating the trimmings became repulsive, and this is the first time I have made The Silver Palate Carrot Cake in at least thirty years. The inspiration came from buying a piece of commercial carrot cake, which was inedible and expensive. A nasty commercial cake mix, it left me with a longing for the memory of this wonderful cake.

The original recipe says desiccated coconut, but I prefer to use shaved organic coconut and process it in a food processor. I also do not use ground cinnamon and instead prefer to grind my own and sieve it through a very fine sieve….the difference in flavour is very noticeable. This is a good cake for someone who doesn’t have an electric mixer. You can use desiccated coconut and the carrot can be grated instead of using a food processor.

AO 28 january 2025
THE FROSTING IS ESSENTIAL, THE FINISHING TOUCH FOR THIS MOIST TEXTURAL DELIIOUSNESS

for the INGREDIENTS

makes two logs 12 cm x 24 cm logs or one 24 cm square

20g unsalted butter, to butter the tins
20g flour to flour the un-papered sides of the tins

Bowl one
300g bakers flour
10g ground cinnamon
375g powdered sugar or pure icing sugar
100g sultanas
126g currants
100g coconut, see above, your choice
100g shelled weight walnuts, chopped

Bowl two
400g p/w carrot, processed until fine in a food processor, or grated
250g mild EVO or quality vegetable oil, not Canola
20g strained fresh lemon juice
3 room temperature eggs, beaten

For the frosting click here

no kitchen machinery, just grate the carrot!

so easy

fresh eggs and choosing a mild extra virgin olive oil

preheat oven to 165°C
Mix everything in bowl one, the dry ingredients, together. Mix everything in bowl two together. Combine the two.

Either evenly divide the mix between your log tins or put it into your square tin. Smooth the top with a bowl scraper and put your cakes into the centre of the oven.

Check after 30 minutes, the log tins should be close to cooked maybe another 10 minutes…check with a skewer. The square tin will take about one hour, however after, the 30-minute timer I check it every 15. The start temperature of your cake mix can make a difference./p>

Allow the cooked cakes to stand in the tin on a rack for 15 minutes. Flip them out of the tins onto a rack…set a timer for another 15 minutes and then flip them top side up. Do no deviate from this, they cakes are quite fragile when they are still warm.

don't skip the frosting

for the frosting
50g icing sugar
60g unsalted butter, very soft but not melted
20g strained fresh lemon juice
250g Neufchatel cheese or Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature very soft

Butter you’re your tins and line the bottoms with baking paper, butter the edges of the paper again, add the flour and flour the non-papered sides. Knock out the excess.

for the frosting
Put everything into a bowl and mix until smooth. Frost the tops.

cook’s note

This cake freezes brilliantly, which is very handy in the summer months for unexpected visitors. You can even take it out of the freezer for ten minutes and just slice of the number of slices you need and return the remainder to the freezer. In another ten minutes the slices will be ready to be served.

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