Helen Carnes' Carrot Pecan Cake & Orange Glaze
A 100-year-old family treasure - carrot cake with pecans and orange glaze that looks like Pac-Man when sliced
The Dinner Bell shares the stories, the food, and the history of those who kept, and those who continue, the celebrated tradition of gathering around the table for Sunday suppers and family dinners.
Carrot cake became popular in the early 1800s, when a recipe was published by Antoine Beauvilliers in 1814 in France. Its popularity surged again during WWII.
This recipe is from my great-grandmother, Mom Carnes's recipe book, nearly 100 years old. If you search, you’ll find several versions of this delicious cake, thanks to the many enterprising great-grandmothers baking in the 1900s. I hope you enjoy this cake and its delightful orange glaze, which just happens to look like Pac-Man when sliced and plated. You can’t beat the likeness of that memory from the 1980s!
Like family time around the dinner table, siblings spend extensive time together creating a shared history and familiarity not often experienced in other relationships. These are some of the strongest connections we can make in our lives.
Strong connections on this side of the family were built over the years on shared Bavarian traditions and a desire for community in the new world.
Helen Anna Wissel Carnes, my great-grandmother, wife, mother, cook, baker of carrot cake, and matriarch of Carnes Sunday suppers and family dinners, was also sister to two wonderful brothers, Fredrick N., and Harry Herman Wissel.
Harry, the eldest, was born on April 18, 1890, in Indiana. He married Iona Grace from Kiowa, Kansas, on February 12, 1920, when he was 29. They had two children, Mary Ann and Margaret Helen "Peggy" Wissel. In 1963, Grace passed away at the age of 69. They’d been married for 42 years!
Harry, who finished school after 8th grade, was instrumental in founding the prison industries division of the Indiana Department of Corrections. A 50-year employee, he was chief accountant when he retired in 1966.
He died in January 1977 in Beech Grove, Indiana, at the age of 86, and was buried in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Fred, the middle son, was born on December 22, 1892, in Indiana. He married Alberta Dee Koontz on April 11, 1921, when he was 28. They had one child during their marriage, Rita, who was born in 1929 and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Duke University.
Fred spent 26 years working as a men’s clothing merchant. In 1932, they moved from Muncie, Indiana, to Huntington, where they owned and operated Wissel Clothing Store until 1959, when Fred passed. He died on April 15, 1959, at the age of 66. Alberta died on December 13, 1985, in Huntington, Indiana, at the age of 86.
The brothers were full of fun and frivolity, always ready for a game with the grandkids, a trip to the horse-and-carriage races, shopping, ice cream, or a family reunion, all of which made for good storytelling around the dinner table.
Helen Carnes’ Carrot Pecan Cake & Orange Glaze
Serves 8-10
Kitchen Tools
Ingredients
1/4 cup avocado oil
2 cups organic cane sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 organic or pastured-raised eggs
3 cups of orange carrots, grated
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325 ºF. Use a monitoring thermometer to ensure your oven temperature is correct.
Add oil and sugar, then mix well.
Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon).
Add half the sifted dry ingredients to the sugar/oil mixture and blend until smooth.
Add the remaining dry ingredients, alternately with the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. (Crack eggs into a bowl to ensure no shell falls into the mix).
Add grated carrots, then mix until incorporated.
Add pecans, then mix until incorporated.
Pour into a lightly oiled 10” tube pan (angel food cake pan).
Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
When done, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack; cool in the pan upright (do not turn it over like you would an angel food cake).
When cool, remove from the pan.
Using a serrated knife, slice into 3 horizontal layers.
Frost each layer with orange glaze, then stack and frost the top of the cake.
Orange Glaze
Kitchen Tools
Ingredients
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
Instructions
Combine sugar and cornstarch in the pan.
Add the juices slowly while stirring until blended and smooth.
Add remaining ingredients, then cook over low heat until thick and glossy, stirring frequently. Cool.
Pairing Tip
This is a sweet, fruity dessert. Luscious dessert muscat or dark, rich fortified wines like Oloroso Sherry or old Malmsey Madeira would make a fine match.
This cake sounds delicious but I don’t bake anymore. Next time you are testing your recipe can I please try a slice? ❤️ I can trade you a risotto dinner. Will cook for cake 😜
So nice to read about our family and where we came from