Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Recipe Extravaganza #2 Carrot Cake


To me, carrot cake seems to go with Easter, not Christmas. But I make mine year round. I consider this my own recipe because I altered another recipe I liked and made it my own. This recipe doesn't call for raisins, pineapple or any other ingredient that is an abomination to carrot cake. I don't mean to toot my own horn but this cake has a cult following. Enjoy.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 egg whites
3 cups peeled, grated carrots
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread in 2 greased 8" round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool, then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting (see below).

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened
powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla.
a little milk

I put my cream cheese in the microwave for about 10 seconds to so to soften it.  Blend cream cheese and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar and milk until desired thickness.  Beat until smooth. I like to put chopped walnuts on the top.

27 comments:

Mandee said...

I LOVE a good carrot cake! Thanks for sharing!

Linda said...

I can vouch for Brooke's carrot cake. It is amazing, and Brooke has become a cake-baking savant (as cooking goes. ..)

Sam said...

She is a natural born cook.

lindsey said...

Is it bad that I think nuts in my desserts are an abomination?

Ashley said...

I can vouch that this is a delicious cake.

Eliza said...

That looks scruptious!

Susan Vilar Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator said...

I saw this recipe on pinterest... going to make it tonight or tomorrow morning.
It looks like it's delicious!!
My husband's office will love it, regardless. :)

Unknown said...

My daughter is making this cake tonight. Her father's birthday is tomorrow and she will bringing it to the office. It sounds wonderful.

Katie K said...

About how much powdered sugar did you use? My frosting was a bit runny. Does that mean that I used too much powdered sugar, or not enough? Great recipe, by the way!

Teriney said...

Amazing! Better than J. Alexander's 10 a slice cake! Thank you!

Teriney said...

Amazing! Better than J. Alexander's 10 dollars a slice cake. Thanks for sharing!

M.E. said...

This cake recipe is right on & mine turned out great. But the frosting recipe is vague & these amounts didn't make enough to frost my layers...

M.E. said...

This cake recipe turned out great but the amounts for the frosting were not enough to cover my layer cake.

Unknown said...

Gonna make this for my husbands bday today...I've made carrot cake before, but i like how you only have the egg whites..as for the frosting, i agree with what you said, you need to keep adding the sugar to thicken it up..there is really no measuring for that part except the butter and liquid..

Unknown said...

I saw this on Pinterest as well, and thought it looked awesome..gonna make it for my husbands bday today..

The Daily Smash said...

I am so happy to find a carrot cake with no pineapple. Cant wait to try this. one question tho. If I was a crazy one that wanted to add golden raisins to this would I have to change any of the ingredients or just add some into the batter? Thanks so much I think I am going to make this for my mother 62nd bday this weekend :)

Check out my blog if you would like
www.thedailysmash101.blogspot.com

Have a great day

brooke said...

Daily Smash, I think it would turn out fine..just throw them in!

Alyssa Fernandez said...

I just made this for my mother-in-law's birthday. I did half brown sugar and doubled the frosting recipe, just adding the powdered sugar until I liked the taste. It was moist and delicious. Everyone loved it!!

Unknown said...

how much powdered sugar for the frosting???

brooke said...

Ginny,

I seriously have no idea. I just keep adding it until I get it to the consistency I like..on the thicker side. So maybe half a bag of powdered sugar?

Unknown said...

Thanks for this recipe! I have been searching for a good one for a while!
I totally agree that pineapple in carrot cake is an abomination in its purest form!!! Just nasty and wrong!
I will be making this for Easter! *_*

Amber said...

This recipe really is amazing. Keep tooting that horn :) I baked this for a party we had for my husband's bday and a couple of us took a bite; and in unison said -"this is really good". I had no idea just how delicious it would be. Thank you for sharing.

Amber said...

This recipe really is amazing. Keep tooting that horn :) I baked this for a party we had for my husband's bday and a couple of us took a bite; and in unison said -"this is really good"-surprised. I had no idea just how delicious it would be. Thank you for sharing!

Graciesmom said...

Looks great! Can this also be made in a 9"x13" pan? It's all I have.

Unknown said...

I want this in a Gluten-Free version!!!!

neuroticmom said...

Would I need to adjust anything if I wanted to add a cup of raisins?

karen said...

Thanks you for this recipe!!! I made it for Easter and it was a big hit! My husband loves carrot cake and he said this is one of the best he has ever had!