FOOD NEWS
The Two Ingredients You Should Toast For The Greatest Carrot Cake
By Grace Allison
Carrot cake offers a vegetable earthiness and robust natural sweetness. Lightly toasting nuts and coconut before baking can amplify their flavor and add a profound nuttiness.
While toasting nuts can increase their fat content, it releases their natural oils, amplifying their aromatics. Spread the nuts on a tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lighter nuts can take six to eight minutes, while thicker nuts can take eight to 10 minutes. Check them every 30 seconds to a minute and wait for the nuts to start turning brown.
Toasting them attaches a deeper nutty fragrance to your cake mix and a more satisfying crunch. Flaked or shredded coconut can also be toasted, transforming the coconut entirely.
Toasted coconut develops a slight caramel flavor while the texture becomes crispy. Too much toasting makes the coconut bitter, so it must be monitored closely in the oven.