WWII Propaganda and Carrots = Creating the Carrot Myth + Carrot Cake Recipe

A couple of months ago I read this crazy article about carrots. Whoa. Here we are more than half a century after WWII and low and behold, the Brits made the carrot and by proxy, in America, Bugs Bunny, that cwazie carrot-eating wabbit, a propaganda symbol. Hey, who hasn’t heard the expression, “Eat your carrots they are good for your eyes?!” (Personally, carrot cake is my favorite over chocolate cake. That’s one of the best uses of carrots, don’t you think?)

Carrots are on the top of my fav veggie list even though I was reluctant to believe that the island nation would stoop to deceive the public and the enemy with a Carrot Myth?

The Ministry for (Disinformation) created a Dr. Carrot character and Mr. Potato and propaganda like this.

“Dr. Carrot and Carroty George had some competition in the U.S., however—from wise-guy carrot-chomping Bugs Bunny, born around the same time. While Bugs served his own role in U.S. WWII propaganda cartoons, the connection between his tagline, “What’s up Doc?,” and the UK’s “Dr. Carrot” is probably just a coincidence.”

The reason why the carrot myth exists:

“During the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. In order to make it more difficult for the German planes to hit targets, the British government issued citywide blackouts. The Royal Air Force were able to repel the German fighters in part because of the development of a new, secret radar technology. The on-board Airborne Interception Radar (AI), first used by the RAF in 1939, had the ability to pinpoint enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. But to keep that under wraps, according to Stolarczyk’s research pulled from the files of the Imperial War Museum, the Mass Observation Archive, and the UK National Archives, the Ministry provided another reason for their success: carrots.”

Carrot Cake Recipe Repeat:

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Carrot Cake Recipe

This a repeat of a recipe that successfully recreated a carrot cake that I used to enjoy at a little vegetarian restaurant.

The recipe I used works well. (I rough grated the carrots with a peeler in an attempt to recreate the earthquake cake consistency of my favorite café cake.)

Here’s the recipe from ABWA The Business of Cooking by Bernadette Rossnagel, VP of Warren, Ohio Page 25.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

¼ cup chopped nuts

1 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cup sugar

2 cups finely grated carrots

3 eggs

½ cup of raisins

½ cup of coconut

Directions

Sift flour with baking soda, cinnamon and salt into bowl. (Add the sugar) Make a well in the dry ingredients. Put the remaining ingredients into well. Stir together. Pour batter into two well greased 8 inch round pans or one large loaf pan. Let stand 20 minutes. Bake one hour at 350 degrees. Frost with white or butter icing, if desired, or top with whipping cream. (I like carrot cake with whipping cream. But as I cannot have fatty stuff, I ate the cake with out any frosting.)

Cream cheese recipe: from Lorily Coppedge, President ABWA St Johns River Chapter Jacksonville, Florida Page 26.

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

½ stick of butter

1 cup chopped nuts

Blend all ingredients together. Spread frosting between layers and on top of cooled cake. (Then sprinkle the nuts on top of the frosted cake.)