Carrot Cake

I have the honour of writing the first recipe on our blog! What a great way to start with an amazing carrot cake recipe. This is by far one of the best carrot cake recipes I've tried, and it's so easy to make. I stumbled upon this recipe when Gabby and I were in search of Italian dessert recipes. Carrot cake is definitely not Italian, but it's still scrumptious! This recipe came from a baking website called Joy of Baking, they have so many yummy recipes I want to try out and post on our blog soon! For now though, I'll start with the Carrot Cake recipe. Enjoy!

 The ingrediants you'll need are:

Cake Batter

3/4 pound (340 grams) raw carrots (the recipe calls for about 2 1/2 cups finely grated, I used 3 carrots)

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

1 cup (240 ml) safflower, vegetable or canola oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Icing

1/4 cup(57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces (227 grams)cream cheese, room temperature

2cups (230 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

finely grated lemon zest of one lemon

Directions

Baking the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the centre of the oven. Butter/Spray a 9x13 pan and cut out parchment paper to put on the bottom of the pan.

Peel and grate your three carrots and put them aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Set it aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light in colour. Add the oil steadily and then add the vanilla extract. Then, gradually add your flour mixture until there are no lumps.

Using a rubber spatula, mix in your carrots within the batter, evenly dividing the carrots with the batter.

After fully mixed, pour in your batter onto the sprayed pan and evenly distribute throughout the whole pan. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once your cake has fully baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.

Frosting

In a bowl of your electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on low speed, until they are blended with no lumps. Then, gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until fully smooth( I would suggest turning off the mixer and putting in the sugar, you'll avoid a lot of powder go up in your face!). Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest(I'm not too big of a fan of lemon zest so I only put in a few drops of lemon juice).

xo, michelle

"Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie."  -Jim Davis