I’m giving away our new favorite book – Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten here.
I have a new giveaway up for a Monopoly board game here.
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I don’t have a huge sweet tooth, but there are certain desserts I like. While chocolate isn’t my favorite, I could snack on homemade Twix bars for a while. Or granola.
I generally don’t like cake either. When I go to a restaurant, I’d never order cake for dessert. And at birthday parties? I generally pass on cake, knowing that it will be … ok but probably not worth the calories or the slightly sick feeling I’ll have later.
But the carrot cake I make? Ohhhhh that’s another one I could sit and just grab a tiny piece of every time I walked by the pan. It isn’t the fancy seven-layer one that you see in the “real” bakeries, and this is more of a spice cake than some of the ones I’ve had, but I adore it.
Uhhh shockingly, the cake is gone and I didn’t manage to get any pictures of it. Sorry. Again.
How to Make Carrot Cake
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For the Cake:
This makes one 13×9 cake, cut into 28 pieces.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13×9 pan.
Add raisins to a small saucepan and cover with water. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes while putting together the other ingredients.
Use a food processor’s grating blade to grate the baby carrots. This will make about 3 cups of shredded carrots.
Mix together dry ingredients for the cake. Add oil and eggs to a well in the center of dry ingredients. Stirring as little as possible, mix to combine. Add carrots and drained raisins and mix again. There will be just enough batter to hold together the carrots and raisins.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 for 35 or so minutes (until the cake tester comes out clean).
Let the cake cool thoroughly before frosting or the frosting will melt on the cake.
For the Frosting:
For the frosting, use a food processor for best results. Also, keep the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temp. Put all frosting ingredients into a food processor and blend for about 10 seconds (pulsing) until creamy. Be careful not to overmix or it will break down. Use a spatula to combine the remaining bits of sugar, etc.
Frost the cake and enjoy!
Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg fresh ground
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves fresh ground
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 25 baby carrots grated
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese cold
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13×9 pan.
- Add raisins to small saucepan and cover with water. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes while putting together the other ingredients.1 cup raisins
- Use food processors’ grating blade to grate the baby carrots. This will make about 3 c oupsf shredded carrots.
- Mix together dry ingredients for cake. Add oil and eggs to a well in the center of dry ingredients. Stirring as little as possible, mix to combine. Add carrots and drained raisins and mix again. There will be just enough batter to hold together the carrots and raisins.1 cup wheat germ, 2/3 cup flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 25 baby carrots, 3 eggs, 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 for 35 or so minutes (until cake tester comes out clean).
- Let the cake cool thoroughly before frosting or the frosting will melt on the cake.
For the Frosting:
- For the frosting, use a food processor for best results. Keep the cream cheese cold and the butter at room temperature.
- Put all frosting ingredients into food processor and blend for about 10 seconds (pulsing) until creamy. Be careful not to overmix or it will break down. Use a spatula to combine the remaining bits of sugar and other frosting ingredients.8 ounces cream cheese, 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Frost the cake and enjoy!
Notes
- You can use Neufchatel to lower fat instead of cream cheese. It works just fine for this recipe.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
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this sounds SO SUPER YUMMY! i love carrot cake, it's right up there with red velvet for me 🙂