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!  :)

Carrot Cake

 

Within the next few days, Jeff will be home from a year-long deployment.  YIPEE!  This has been the longest year.  We've had a lot of changes (grad school) and Murphy's Law has been around our house a little too much (flooded basement several times, new appliances because the old ones quit working, half of a tree blew down, the mango incident ~FYI~ mangos are related to poison ivy and if you're really allergic to PI, you shouldn't touch mango skin and rub your face... I could go on and on... oh, and the garage door stopped working yesterday.)  I am so ready for it to be over and done with!  So JP and I are anxiously awaiting a phone call.  A watched pot never boils, and... well, a watched phone never rings!

Since Jeff is coming home, I'm making Carrot Cake.  It's Jeff's favorite.  And being the wonderful wife I am, I thought I'd whip some up.  I've never made it before (and we've been married for 15 years!)  I don't have a tried and true recipe, so I found one at allrecipes.com.  Carrot Cake III has 5 stars and 2727 reviews...so it must be a pretty good cake. 

I don't know if you've figured this out by now or not...  But I can't follow a recipe exactly.  I'm always modifying recipes as I make them.  Most of the time it works.  However, some of my modifications have ended not so great...  TLS recipes.  Last week JP and I had a tasty honey curry pasta salad.  It was...  well...  a TLS recipe.  Hopefully my changes will work their magic this time!  I'm planning on cutting back on the sugar in the cake and frosting, using half whole wheat flour, half white flour, substituting applesauce for some of the oil, using half the amount of pecans, adding some crushed pineapple, coconut and nutmeg.  So basically, I'm changing the whole recipe.

Here's the original recipe.  I'll post my adaptations and my review (hopefully it won't be branded TLS) after I make it.  It's supposed to cool down to a balmy 95 degrees for the next few days, so I can bake and not worry about my AC bill.  bahhhaahahhhaaaah

Carrot Cake III

Rated:	Prep Time: 30 Minutes	Ready In: 2 Hours
Submitted By: Tammy Elliott	Cook Time: 1 Hour	Servings: 18

"I've tried many carrot cakes, and this is my favorite recipe. If you don't like pecans, feel free to leave them out."

Ingredients:

4 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots 1 cup chopped pecans   1/2 cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2.	In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4.	To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 8/3/2010