Carrot Cake

One of my earliest pregnancy cravings was carrot cake. My husband and I bought some at the grocery store, and it was heavenly. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided I needed to make carrot cake for myself sometime. I searched for a good recipe, and the week after my birthday, I decided to make a cake as a belated celebration.

If only it had been that easy.

I have a small food processor and thought I'd be able to cut the carrots up and then shred them with the food processor. Alas, I was wrong. So my husband bravely volunteered to shred them by hand, a process that ended up taking about three hours despite my insistence that I could just go to the grocery store and buy shredded carrot bits. Luckily, he was preoccupied by a baseball game as he shredded. And shredded. And shredded. (And frequently questioned the need for "two cups," which was the amount I said I probably could get by with ... and I told him I'd just split the recipe and make half a cake.)

Fast forward to when the shredding was over and I started to make the cake. And forgot that I was going to half the recipe. Oopsie. But I really thought the carrot flavor would come through, even if I didn't have a properly amount of shredded carrots, and even if they were hand-shredded to an extra-fine consistency. So I made the full recipe.

And it all worked out.

I decided to make a 9x13 version instead of a pretty, round cake, because after the whole carrot shredding ordeal, I really didn't have the patience to daintily frost two 9-inch layers.

The cake was moist and delicious, and the frosting was A-MAZ-ING. Did it have any trademark carrot shreds? No. But it *did* have my husband's hard work in it. And what *I* really thought it was missing was raisins. If I ever make this cake again (and I think I'd like to try it again - in cupcake form, maybe), I will most certainly be adding raisins.


Simple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp table salt
1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil , safflower oil, or canola oil

8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool
5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions (with food processor):
- Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour(or I used 2 9-inch pans).
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.
- In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.
- Wipe out food processor work bowl and fit with metal blade.
- Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds.
- With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream.
- Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer.


- Scrape mixture into medium bowl.
- Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.


- Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time.
- Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.


- When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 10 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
- Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan.
- Invert cake onto wire rack, then invert again onto serving platter.
- Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.)


If you don't have a food processor, here are the stand mixer directions:
- Shred carrots using large holes of box grater (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.
- In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds.
- Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil).
- Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time.
- Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.
- When cake is cool, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
- Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Source: Good Things Catered