Saturday, January 21, 2017

The Best Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting


So... I ate this cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today #whoops. But that's okay because it has vegetables in it, right? 

That's probably one of the most common lies I tell myself.


Unknown to most people in my life, carrot cake is my most favorite dessert. Like, out of all of the (dang good) dessert recipes on this blog, carrot cake takes the cake hah, but literally.  If a boy was trying to make me fall in love with him, all he would have to do is show up with one of these cakes at my door. Forget the roses, who needs flowers when you can have cake instead? And yes, I give you permission to spread this news far and wide, I wouldn't mind a few cute guys with cake at my door right now ;)


So what makes this cake so good you ask? Well the carrots make this cake amazingly moist and delicious, and the nuts give it a good crunch. I must tell you that I always leave the raisins out of this cake, so I didn't even add them to the recipe... But sometimes my mom puts them in. So if you want to ruin it (JUST KIDDING, mom please don't kill me) you can add 1 cup raisins, dark or golden. And with a little bit of love and a whole lot of carrots and sugar you will soon have the best cake in the world.


The Beset Carrot Cake
INGREDIENTS
1 pound carrots (4 cups shredded, firmly packed)
2 cups minus 2 Tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup corn (canola) oil
5 1/2 ounces (generous 1 1/2 cups) pecans, cut into small pieces

DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. 
2) Grease and line 2 (or 3), 8 inch cake pans, set aside.
3) Grate carrots (you don't have to peel them). You should have around 4 cups, firmly packed.
4) In a electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer), beat the eggs. Beat in vanilla, both sugars, and oil. Then on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix only until incorporated. Stir in carrots and nuts. 
5) Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake come out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes and carefully remove from pans. Let cool completely (we always freeze this cake for a couple hours) and ice with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows). 
www.sourdoughsunday.com

Cream Cheese Frosting
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter (1 cube), softened
1 block cream cheese (8 oz.), softened
1/3 cup cream (or 1/4 cup milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
around 5 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a medium-sized mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and cream until smooth. Add cream and vanilla and beat until combined. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Enjoy! 
www.sourdoughsunday.com


No comments:

Post a Comment