Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I paid a visit to Costco the other day to buy some stuff.  I needed carrots for my dinner that night.  Well, you know how large the quantities are at Costco.  The only size bag of carrots available weighed 10 lbs.  I walked back and forth contemplating making another visit to the market just to buy carrots.  I really didn’t feel like making another trip, I just wanted to get home and prepare my dinner.  So, of course I bought the 10 lb bag, justifying that I would make carrot juice, even though the kids dislike carrot juice, and there is just so much that I can drink.  So, what do you do with so many carrots?  I made Carrot cake.  I really like how the cake turned out, and so did everyone else who had a slice.

 

Take 5 medium sized carrots and shred finely using a grater.

This should yield 2 cups of shredded carrots, if not, shred a little more.

In a mixing bowl combine 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 cups of flour.

Take 4 large eggs and …..

combine in a large mixing bowl with 1 cup of sugar and 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil.

Beat until…

pale and smooth.

Add shredded carrots and the dry ingredients and ……..

mix until incorporated.

Take 1 1/2 cups of walnuts and grind or finely chop.

I ground mine coarsely, so the cake has some texture to it.

Add the ground walnuts and a handful of golden raisins, then fold into the batter.

Fill two 8 inch cake pans with the batter.  I used silicon pans.  If you use a regular tin pan, make sure to grease it well and line with parchment paper.  You can also use a springform pan.  Pop them into a preheated oven (350 degrees F.) and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until your knife comes out clean.  If you are not baking in layers, then bake for 45 minutes and use one 9 inch pan.

Once done, remove from oven and let the cakes cool completely.

And now for the yummy frosting!  Add 1/2 cup (1 Stick) softened butter, 8 oz. of cream cheese and a 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract to a mixer.

Blend well, adding 1/2 to 3/4’s cup of confectioners sugar to desired sweetness.

It should look like this.

Even out the top of your first layer of cake to prepare for frosting.

Frost the first layer with a nice thick layer and then place the second cake layer on top.  It should look like a big Oreo cookie at this point.

Continue frosting and garnish with nuts if you like.  Voila!

Ingredients for the cake:

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

5 medium carrots

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 salt

1 1/2 cups ground walnuts

a handful of golden raisins

Ingredients for frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup – 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, (powdered sugar) depending on sweetness preference.

Cooking method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter two 8 inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper.  I used silicon cake pans, so no buttering or lining was needed.  Beat the eggs, sugar and oil until pale and smooth.  Fold in the carrots, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix until incorporated and then fold in the ground walnuts and raisins.  Pour the mixture into the pans and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until a knife comes clean when removed.  If you care making a single layer cake, then use one 9 inch pan and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

To make the frosting, add the softened butter and cream cheese into a mixer and blend well.  Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar till desired sweetness and blend.  If your cake is completely cooled, you are now you are ready to frost the cake.  If you prefer more frosting on your cake, then make double the amount of frosting.

Adapted from the Rose Bakery “Breakfast, Lunch, Tea”  Cookbook

Serves 8 – 10