Carrot Cake Quest

I’m sitting at my dining room table in Victoria, blogging and watching the harbour tugs putt-putt up the waterway (note the spelling of harbor; when in Rome…).

Tug-watching is only one of the many pleasures here; the other is my quest for the perfect slice of Carrot Cake. Why carrot cake? Hey, why not? I don’t eat it any other time of the year. Victoria is not necessarily known for it. I don’t even make it anymore (and I make killer carrot cake). But every year, we spend two weeks here in the Northwest, where coffee shops abound. Daily, we visit a different one, sometimes a favorite, sometimes a new one. The coffee is always great, but the real draw for me is the treats that go with the coffee: cookies, bars, muffins, etc. And there’s always carrot cake on the menu.

This year I’m limiting myself to a quest to find the best coffee shop carrot cake in Victoria. There will be distractions, like biscotti and Nanaimo Bars and brownies and lemon squares, but I will be true to my goal. Most shops offer the carrot cake – and if they don’t, well, I may not return, even if the beans are primo.


What constitutes the perfect carrot cake? Well it should be a good-sized slab – preferably single-layer – with the requisite cream cheese frosting. Now, for some people the frosting is the draw. (The real reason, I think, for the popularity of the odious Red Velvet Cake.) But carrot cake should be able to stand-alone, like if you skipped it for some crazy, calorie-conscious reason, the cake would still be great.  The cake should be moist and carroty, but not dense. The addition of other fruits - raisins, dates, or pineapple - is acceptable. Coconut, to me, is a must, but there are those who shun it for textural reasons. I can go either way on the use of nuts, but if they are included they should be limited to walnuts – no pistachios or pecans or sunflower seeds or nonsense like that. Spices are okay, too, be should not be all that noticeable.

Yes, this is a tough job, but I’m willing to sacrifice so that I may bring this information to mankind. And there’s not a whole lot of time to do it.

My favorites so far are available at Union Pacific Coffee Company and at the Grindstone Café. After my questing is over, I’ll post my recipe for y’all. Until then…I’m off to Bean Around the World.