I came across this recipe for "The Best Carrot Cake" at justapinch.com and decided to try it, as any recipe that claims to be the best instantly makes me skeptical. Of course, I altered it ever so slightly with the addition of sunflower seeds and goat cheese frosting. I love a sweet/savory balance in a dessert and I thought the goat cheese would add an interesting twist.
The results were awesome. The carrot cake recipe is simple yet amazing, moist, spicy and with a great crumb. The goat cheese in the frosting upped the tanginess, complimenting the cream cheese. If the idea of goat cheese in the frosting sounds too weird to you, you can make it with only cream cheese, but I encourage you to give it a try. I cut my cake into little rounds with a ring mold just to be fancy, but you can skip this step. The cake tastes great no matter what shape it is.
This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2010.