Carrot Cake

My cousin, Tina and her husband, Ron

 So a few days ago, I posted that I was going to make Carrot Cake for Jeff, since it is his favorite and he's returning after a year in Iraq.  I looked at my to go-to recipe site (www.allrecipes.com) and found one that had a lot of stars.  Of course, I was going to alter the recipe...cut the butter and sugar.  But then I heard from my cousin, Tina.  She had a tried and true Carrot Cake recipe that didn't have all of the butter and sugar and she said it was Divine.  Here's Tina's original recipe on her blog.  Since Jeff will be home sometime today, I made the cake yesterday, following Tina's recipe.  I did alter it a little.  I halved the recipe, which fit into a 9x9 inch pan and didn't use all whole wheat flour.  However, since I'm a sucker for frosting, I didn't half the frosting recipe. I think it will be wonderful!  We'll see if Jeff gives it two thumbs up...


I took a few pics of the cake this morning and they didn't come out very clear...the cake's been sitting in the refrigerator since it's hot as hades here and I didn't want the cream cheese icing to sour.  The pan has condensation on the outside and it gave the pictures a hazy quality.  Sooo, when we have the cake tonight, I'll take a few photos.  If I can remember! 

Carrot Cake
Serves 9


1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour 
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon (highest quality you can afford- it will make a difference)
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
3/4 cups crushed canned pineapple, drained (get 1 large can and 1 small can, or 3 small cans minus a little)
1 T drained pineapple juice
2 T olive oil (extra-virgin)
1 large egg
1 cups grated/pureed carrot

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grate/ puree carrots (about 3-4 med size) in food processor.  You want them to be closer to a pureed consistency for this cake, as seen in above picture.  It makes the cake more moist and more appealing to non-veggie lovers.
3. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.
4. Combine eggs and oil, whip together.
5. Add eggs/oil, carrots, pineapple, and pineapple juice to dry mixture and mix together with large spoon.  Batter will be thick.
6. Spray 9 x 9 inch glass pan and pour batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Cool before frosting

Frosting:
1 block softened Neufchatel cheese, found next to the cream cheese (you must soften it or the frosting won’t whip)
1 cup powdered sugar (add to taste)
1 1/2 T softened butter (must be soft too)

1. whip together cheese and butter
2. add powdered sugar to taste
3. spread over cake in thin layer (the less sugar you put in the less frosting you get but it tastes creamier so a thin layer is fine)
ENJOY!!!

Review:  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  This cake was so very good.  The cake was moist and the ginger gave it a great flavor.  This is an absolutely great carrot cake!  Jeff did have a few suggestions to make it just a little bit better....raisins and pecans, so next time I make it, I'll add 1/2 c. raisins and 1/4 c. chopped pecans.  After JP tasted the frosting, he said that he's normally not a frosting kid, but this frosting was top notch and didn't make his stomach hurt!  :)