I'm probably in the minority, but I love, love, love carrot cake. It is my absolute favorite. But, as with a lot of other things in life, I am really picky about it. I think that a carrot cake shouldn't have anything else in it except for... carrots. I could completely do without the raisins and walnuts and coconut or whatever else it is that other recipes call for. I'm just looking for a simple carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting. It's actually really difficult to find what I love so I thought that since Easter is coming up, I would share with you my carrot cake recipe.
Ingredients: {cake recipe adapted from The Faux Martha}
Cake:
1 pound carrots, freshly grated
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1/3 cup skim milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsp cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, softened
about 4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cake pans with parchment paper and spray with non-stick baking spray.
2. Whisk together the carrots, eggs, sugar, canola oil, skim milk, and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon sugar, nutmeg, and allspice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the cake pans and bake in an oven for 30-38 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. {I used six inch pans, but the time in the oven should be the same for an eight or nine inch pan.}
5. Allow the cakes to cool completely before icing.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer {or a large bowl with a hand mixer}, beat together the butter and cream cheese.
2. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time until smooth and creamy. Side note: one box of powdered sugar {usually one pound} is four cups of powdered sugar. I never use the full four cups because it makes frosting really sweet and I prefer mine not so sweet. I just eyeball it.
3. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Assemble and frost the cake. Since I made this cake for Easter, I added some mini Cadbury creme eggs.
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