National Carrot Cake Day - Tyler Makes a Birthday Cake

National Carrot Cake Day was celebrated on February 3, which was Saturday. We did actually make this cake and celebrate on Saturday, but we have had a busy week since. Bear and Mr. T assisted me in making the cake on Saturday afternoon, and normally Big Man would have helped too, but in this case, he got a fever and some of the nasty flu that has been going around this winter. So far no one else has succumbed to the germs which has been a blessing.

Since we are still very much in the preschool and early elementary years at our house picture books are in regular rotation from our local libraries. The whole series about Tyler and his dog Tofu by Tyler Florence have been borrowed and make regular visits to our house. They do have quite a few words for a picture book, but they are a set that I don't mind. The illustrations, done by Craig Frazier, are wonderful. The characters are drawn very simply, but they get the point across. Through the books, the main character, Tyler, goes on a journey to get ingredients for a particular recipe and learn how to make them. He learns where the ingredients come from and has many helpers on his way. It shows kids where the ingredients come from before the grocery store in a fun way. Tyler's dog Tofu is along for the journey too and gets himself into trouble along the way. I think Tofu is my boys favorite character in these books, they laugh out loud at him.

In the back of each book in the series is a recipe from Tyler Florence to make the main food that was centered in the story. In this book, Tyler Makes a Birthday Cake, there are actually two cakes a carrot cake for people, and a carrot cake for dogs. This is because they are trying to make a birthday cake for Tofu's birthday. So in honor of National Carrot Cake Day the boys and I made Tyler's Carrot Cake and Frosting Recipe from Tyler Makes a Birthday Cake.

The recipe was easy to follow and had many different spices and small items for the boys to help measure. This is always a good thing when they are helping cook, then everyone gets many chances to help. There are so many versions of carrot cake available that they can all taste different. This one surprised me because it included molasses and I do not think I have seen that before. We opted not to use the optional walnuts because the boys tend to eat desserts better without nuts. It took me longer than the recipe stated since I had help from a three-year-old and a five-year-old.

Bear was worried about it being carrot cake since carrots are his least favorite vegetable. He wanted to help make it, but he wasn't so sure about tasting it. So we grated the carrots using the finest setting on our vegetable grater and I assured him that he wouldn't taste big pieces of carrot in the cake. He really enjoys pumpkin bars and I said it would probably taste similar to those. In the end he did try it for me and he enjoyed the cake.

Timing: Recipe States: 1 hour and 45 minutes, My Actual Timing: 2 hours and 30 minutes
Servings: Recipe States: 1 large cake, serves 8-10, Servings For My Family: about 20, we serve small portions
Leftovers: The cake has been wonderful for the last 3 days so far.


Family Ratings:
Me: I was surprised that the molasses did not overpower the cake more, the flavor was good. The cake was moist with a good crumb. I think I prefer my own cream cheese frosting, but the cake itself was very good.
Hubby: Sweets are not his favorite, so he has opted not to try this cake.
Big Man: He enjoyed the cake, but hasn't had much comment since he wasn't feeling well.
Bear: He tried it! He liked it! He was very surprised and he spent time looking for the carrots in his piece. He was able to find them, but they were very small and he said it did taste like pumpkin bars.
Mr. T: The youngest has enjoyed this cake the most and even opted for cake yesterday for a snack after shoveling snow and forgo the hot cocoa his brothers chose. That is high praise from a boy who enjoys his cocoa after being in the snow.

Will I repeat: Carrot cake is not something I make very often, but if I did I would use this recipe again.

What will I change: I would probably make it with my own recipe for cream cheese frosting that I prefer, and I might consider leaving out the crushed pineapple. The pineapple just added a texture that wasn't appealing to me personally, but I know a lot of people enjoy pineapple in their carrot cake.