Le gâteau aux carottes idéal

Tout d'abord, une triste nouvelle: je ne crois pas qu'on aura une foire au mois de mai, même si on en avait chaque année, sauf lors de la pandémie. J'adorais m'y rendre, c'était vraiment un bel évènement annuel. Enfin bref... J'ai pris cette photo l'an dernier à la foire de mai, justement. J'adore les gâteaux aux carottes. Je ne me rappelle plus du goût, j'imagine qu'il était très bon, mais avouez que pour la présentation, c'est le gâteau aux carottes idéal.

Carrot cake and tea

My mother-in-law knows my love for carrot cakes, so during our last visit she bought one at Waitrose. I had it with tea. Very dark, the tea, and not even a splash of milk. I felt very spoiled. That is for me the ideal afternoon dessert.

The best carrot cake?

I eat, or at least try to eat, following the seasons. When autumn comes, I eat hearty food and I also have seasonal desserts. For me, the most autumnal one might actually be the carrot cake. So come September, as soon as the temperature cools down a bit, I buy a carrot cake for the family, or a piece for myself. With tea on a cool day, it's just the ultimate comfort food, at least this time of year. Of course, you cannot go cheap: you need to find a really good one, or bake one if you have the skills (I don't).

Well, I am lucky, as I believe I found what may be the best carrot cake I ever ate (bare maybe this one). And in a chain, not in a quaint little café or shop. At COOK, of all places. But their carrot cake is really out there. Unlike a lot of those you can find in shops, it's very moist, not dry at all. And it's triple layered, thus very indulgent. And at £14.00, it's very reasonable for a cake this size. Since 2020, when I bought one just to try it, it has become an autumnal tradition in this household. My wife is not too keen on carrot cake, so she has very little, but Wolfie and I just wolf through it. So yes, maybe it's the best carrot cake ever.

A carrot cake

Maybe it was pure chance, maybe it was fate, but the day before my favourite local café closed down, we stopped there to buy a dessert for after dinner. I should have noticed something strange, as there were only two cakes available, and they were very classic ones. But I bought a piece of carrot cake anyway. After this carrot cake, which is the greatest carrot cake I ever had, the one from our now closed down independent café is maybe one of the best. I really enjoyed it and would have enjoyed it even more knowing it was going to be the last. In any case, I find carrot cakes one of the the most appropriate dessert for autumn. Maybe it is the reddish colour, maybe something about the flavour, but I generally enjoy some in autumn. And yes, I turned this post into another autumnal one. I promise, my next posts will be on another subject.

The carrot cake from Strawberry Grove

If you love carrot cakes, you need to have this one at least once in your life. Strawberry Grove is this very small café and tea room in Lane End, but it offers really great food. The best is their carrot cake. The first time I went there, I had it to go with my tea as there was no scones left. The second time I visited Strawberry Grove, I wanted to go because of the carrot cake. As we didn't have time to take the dessert there after our lunch, I decided to simply buy a piece of cake to eat later at home. My wife said: "Oh that looks nice, you'll share it with me right?" I said: "This is too good to share, so I'll buy you your own piece." Which I did. Sometimes generosity and selfishness go hand in hand. And I think my reply deserves to be a great unknown line. I am not a particularly big fan of carrot cakes, but this one is that good. In fact, I can safely say that it is the best carrot cake I've had in my life.

Gâteau aux carottes 2

C'était absolument délicieux et ça se mange tout seul. On oublie presque que ce n'est pas décadent. Enfin presque pas.

Gâteau aux carottes

Je vais essayer le gâteau aux carottes.