Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

Just briefly, carrot cake is seen as having evolved out of carrot puddings of medieval times.* Recently I did a recipe article about "Brazilian Carrot Cake," which is considerably different from this recipe here on this page. Here is the link to that article:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/08/brazilian-carrot-cake-with-chocolate.html

Ingredients (1 round layer, 9 1/2 inch diameter):

1 large carrot, peeled and grated or use a food processor
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 350 F. I grated the carrot for some texture, but if you prefer really smooth cake, use a food processor. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix well (I use a hand mixer). Lightly oil a 91/2 inch baking pan/dish, then dust it with a little flour. Pour the carrot cake batter into the dish and let it settle to even out before putting it into the oven. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean ("about" 45 minutes, but I want to emphasize, it could be a little shorter, but it could also take somewhat longer, up to 60 minutes). While your oven is hot, you can dry roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet or on some aluminum foil (about 12 to 15 minutes at 350 F). You can also dry roast them in a skillet on top of the stove (about 5 to 6 minutes over medium heat; shake the skillet about every 30 seconds so the hazelnuts don't burn). If you want the skins of the hazelnuts removed, after roasting, put the nuts on a dish towel and let them sit for 1 to 2 minutes, then rub the hazelnuts together with the towel.  

 Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (also called confectioner's sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 teaspoons milk
1/4 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts (also known as "filberts," to some) for topping

Add the cream cheese and butter to a bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the two ingredients together, then add the vanilla, 1 teaspoon milk and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar at a time (when mixing in the sugar, if the frosting is becoming too thick, you can add more milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time; the frosting should be smooth and spreadable). You can leave the cake in the baking dish, in which case you only need to spread on the frosting, or you can run a knife around the perimeter of the cake to loosen it, then gradually and carefully remove the cake to a serving dish to be frosted. Whichever way you prefer, after frosting the cake, chop the roasted hazelnuts and sprinkle them over the frosting. 
 
* For more on the history of carrot cake, here is a link to a great website: http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/carrotcake.html
 

WORD HISTORY:
Cord-This word is distantly related to "yarn," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "hernia," a word borrowed by English from Latin. "Cord" goes back to Indo European "gher(e)," which meant, "gut, intestine." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek "khordḗ," which meant "string made of animal intestine, catgut, intestine." This was borrowed by Latin as "chorda," meaning, "string, intestine, catgut," and this passed into Latin-based Old French as "corde," meaning, "string, cord." English borrowed the word in about 1300, initially as "corde," meaning, "rope made of strands of material twisted together, string on a musical instrument, executioner's rope for hanging." "Cord of wood" is from the 1600s, as rope was used to measure off the collected wood. The second half of the 1700s saw the additional meaning, "raised decoration on cloth material, often on military uniforms."