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JUST DESSERTS
That 70s Cake, And Yes, I Do Mean Carrot Cake
So retro, so easy, so good
I was a kid in the 1970s when carrot cake exploded onto the dessert scene. Though people have been making desserts out of carrots since medieval times, originally steamed carrot pudding, then evolving to lighter, oven-baked cake, the modern cream-cheese frosted confection we now think of as carrot cake came of age in the late 20th century.
More than one source suggests its popularity in the 70s was from its association with healthy food; after all, carrots are good for you, right? They help eyesight, lower cholesterol and cancer risk. They can even help you lose weight. Yes, of course, all that is true, but even those healthy carrots, baked into a luscious cake, come with hefty sides of fat and sugar. For that reason, I would not recommend an all-carrot cake diet. Not because of the fat and sugar, necessarily, because any food is fine in moderation, but because restrictive diets by any name are unsustainable and unhealthy. But do have one or two slices and enjoy it.
Why cake?
Food is more than the sum of its parts, calories, or carbs. Food is community. Pleasure. Nostalgia. In the name of nostalgia, I am on a quest to track down and bake simple versions of the desserts of my youth. I started…
