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National Carrot Cake Day (February 3)

Check out the weird holiday National Carrot Cake Day on February 3. Learn the history of carrot cake, and get ideas on how to celebrate.

One weird holiday on February 3 is National Carrot Cake Day. Check out the other weird February holidays!

History of National Carrot Cake Day

Carrot cake was developed sometime in the Middle Ages because sugar was rare and therefore extremely expensive. Bakers used sweet vegetables, like carrots, to help naturally sweeten the cakes they made.

Carrot pudding first appeared in a cookbook called A Book of Cookrye: Very Necessary for All Such as Delight Therin, by Edward Allde, which was written in 1591. They would hollow out a large carrot and stuff it with different items.

In the early 1800s, carrot cake began being served to French royas.

The earliest known recipe for carrot cake itself, however, is in a French cookbook that was published in 1827 in Britain, but it didn’t become a popular dessert in the United States until the 1960s.

Rumor has it, however, that President George Washington greatly enjoyed carrot cake. He would regularly visit Fraunces Tavern, which was located in lower Manhattan in New York City. The same recipe he so greatly enjoyed was later published in The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook, written by Mary Donovan, Amy Hatrack, and Frances Schull.

During WWII, sugar became scarce, as well as other foods, and was rationed. The Ministry of Food in Great Britain suggested that people use carrots as a sweetener, not just in cakes but also in puddings and pies! That could be where the idea of putting carrots in Jello salad came from.

Since carrot cakes are made with real carrots, they’re a bit healthier than regular sugar cakes. Carrots have fiber and beta carotene (which help your eyesight).

Carrot cake is made a bit like a quick bread in the sense that the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together separately, then combined together. Then at the end, it’s usually frosted with a cream cheese frosting.

Many bakers also like to add cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts, and raisins to their carrot cake recipes in order to add more texture, variety, and sweetness. It’s also often served with delicious hot chocolate.

Ideas for National Carrot Cake Day

Try out a variety of carrot cakes!

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