This carrot bread is part of a series of “bread” recipes that came about almost by accident. It all started several weeks ago when we shared our chocolate chip banana bread recipe here and on our social media accounts.

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First of all, we need to clarify something. We call these “breads,” but they’re actually more like pound cakes. The thing is, these recipes come from our paternal grandmother, and she called this type of pound cakes “breads.” Why? Because they’re not your typical sort of pound cake that usually have a fine crumb. More so like a traditional cake texture.

That’s because we don’t use baking powder in these “bread” recipes. That’s right. Many people ask us about this when they first see the recipes for these breads, just to confirm. But, indeed, there is no baking powder. We only use baking soda. And this is precisely the key to that texture we like so much. It turns out just the way we want it, with a texture more like a type of “bread.” In fact, of course, it’s very similar to Irish soda bread. It’s the same idea behind all of this.

And when people ask, or say that it doesn’t matter whether you use baking powder or baking soda, we tell them right away: That’s not true. The result of using one or the other, or a combination of both in different proportions, is not the same. Check out our post from a long time ago about the differences between baking powder and baking soda.

In fact, to make you laugh a little, I’ll tell you a story about this type of bread. My grandmother used to make it with apples, but our mother started making it with bananas. My grandparents really liked my mother’s version with bananas. Whenever we visit my grandfather in Culiacán, we bring him one of these banana breads (he loves it when we add prunes and pecans), so my mom often asked Irma and I to make it. Well, one time it was my turn. I was about 12 years old.

Well, I did it and it turned out terrible. Our mom ended up having to make another one really quickly for to gift her father-in-law. When I got back to Los Mochis, I wanted to get it out of my system, so I made banana bread three more times without success. The texture was still weird. Then my mom, seeing I was struggling, decided to help me out one day. We realized that the baking powder was to blame. I was using baking powder instead of baking soda. And you wouldn’t believe how different it turns out. Not better or worse, I think. But very differently. We laughed a lot, and my brothers and dad teased me a lot. So learn from me. If you want it to turn out the way it looks here, don’t even think about replacing the baking soda with baking powder for this recipe.

When we shared that recipe for our chocolate chip banana bread with you, you loved the idea. And we mentioned that the original recipe was actually an apple bread that our grandmother used to make. Well, now we’ve decided, because you’ve been asking us so much, that we’re going to make that same recipe idea using many other ingredients that will make it delicious.

So here it is, the next bread is this one, our carrot bread. Enjoy it very much. And don’t forget to check out our apple bread, which is the original recipe for all of them, just like our grandmother used to make it.