Old Reliable

One of my goals in baking is to create an arsenal of tried-and-true recipes. Recipes that, if ever the need arises, are guaranteed to be the most delicious thing you've ever tasted!

This is a recipe I recently added to my list - carrot cake! This is my future brother-in-law's absolute favourite cake, and with him asking for it on his birthday each year, I’m sure I’m going to get plenty of use out of this recipe! I myself wasn’t a big fan of carrot cake when I was younger - vegetables did not belong in desserts - however, I think a cake like this could change anyone’s mind.

My future brother-in-law doesn’t like pineapple, nor raisins, in his carrot cake, but he's ok with nuts, so I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com that fit that criteria. I followed the reviews posted with the recipes for modifications to make it amazing, and I have to say it worked! Here it is:

Carrot Cake

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Makes 2 x 9” rounds (or 24 large cupcakes)

4 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cup brown sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecan (optional)

1 cup raisins (optional) – you can soak them in warm orange juice to add more flavour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 x 9 inch pans very well.
2. In a large bowl beat together eggs, oil, applesauce, white and brown sugars and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans and carrots if desired.
3. Bake in oven for 40 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

¼ cup butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3.5 cups confectioner’s sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl cream butter and cream cheese together. Beat in vanilla and add icing sugar until desired consistency is achieved.

This recipe is so moist, the spices are perfect and the cream cheese icing just puts it over the top! We were all surprised how well it came out, and I must admit I’ve craved this cake since then! And in case you are wondering, baby carrots can be grated too (as shown by the nubs in the picture), but they sure are a pain to grate!

Now, I must warn you, this cake turns really dark in the oven! When I saw those two dark brown cakes sitting on the counter cooling, I was afraid they were over-baked. As the first forkfuls were swallowed, I was about to pass out from anxiety! But the cake was perfect! So keep an eye on it, but dark is ok!

So if you need a go-to recipe for carrot cake, I suggest this one! It's fabulous!