Monday, August 31, 2009

Carrot Cake

Well, I had it in my mind to write about lunch this week, but I made this carrot cake, and it was wonderful. It was actually so good I made it twice. And my dearly beloved is seriously honked off that it's all gone.

HEALTHIER CARROT CAKE

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups shredded carrot
12 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the oil and eggs, and beat until combined. Add the carrot and walnuts, and beat another minute. Turn the batter into a 13x9x2 glass pan, as I did (go ahead and defy the convention that says carrot cake must be layered!) or into 2 layer pans. Bake at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes for the sheet cake, or probably about 30 to 35 minutes for layers. Sorry, I don't do layers, so I'm not so sharp with my time to bake layers.


Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
cream


Beat together the butter and cream cheese with the vanilla extract. Add the sugar cup by cup until the frosting is very stiff. Add some cream to give your frosting a nice smooth texture.

Remember, even with only 6 people home, 2 cakes only lasted 3 days. That's quite a recommendation, isn't it?

12 comments:

Paula said...

I love carrot cake. It's one of those amazing cakes that functions as dessert, snack, or (ahem) meal! I actually prefer sheet pan style cakes vs. layer. I really believe you get more servings out of a sheet cake, plus it's way, way, way easier to cut and serve (and nibble on right out of the pan).

PS: Cole started school today. His enthusiasm is a bit lacking, but he's not complaining! The girls start next week. When do the boys start?

Paula said...

PS: Meant to mention ... I love how your frostings are always so thick and luscious looking. On those rare occasions that I bake, I need to remember to be more generous with the frosting! :-)

buffalodick said...

Looked great! One of my wife's favorite cakes.... Your recipe is definitely a kissin' cousin to one I make!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Carrot cake is one of my favorites and two cakes in three days, you can't get a better review on a cake than that!

The Blonde Duck said...

My mom loves carrot cake!

6 people...that sounds like a party to me!

Mickle in NZ said...

Your family do so well on the cake front - my dear Mum made the same fruit cake week in, week out, and now both her daughters loathe the recipe.

This carrot cake looks super scrummy - so moist and then cream cheese frosting too! It would sell very well in any cafe here.

SissySees said...

That used to be my go-to recipe, or at least... something VERY similar to it. However, the Knight demands a layered carrot cake, so I managed to snag a friend's recipe, which he insists is the very best.

The Blonde Duck said...

I don't know if Ashley and Cleo will ever like Jeremy.

tavolini said...

That sounds good to me! I love love love carrot cake. My mom uses a recipe that has carrot baby food in it! I might have to try this one on her.

grace said...

ya’ll are my type of family—my loved ones and i have also been known to rip through a carrot cake or two. there’s nothing wrong with that at all, until it comes down to the last piece and war breaks out. :)

noble pig said...

Honked off? That made me laugh out loud!

Anonymous said...

That's one cake that gets eaten to the last crumb around here too! I have to add raisens to mine though.