Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
April 17th, 2012
I know I have been missing. But I have a good excuse. Lots of them actually!
I can’t wait to tell you about all of the projects I am working on, but it is not quite time for some of them yet. So what I will tell you is that my little Pia is growing up so quickly I can barely believe it. She is on “Spring Break” for goodness sakes!
I have been spending time with her the last few days that my busy work schedule and her busy school and activity schedule have not allowed for in ages. And I have to say, it has been really nice.
I love having her in the kitchen with me again. She enjoys baking so much, and Coco was willing to hand over the sous chef reigns the past few days.
To say that I am sorry for going missing, I am sharing a special and highly delectable recipe with you today.
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Now, please understand. This is Carrot Cake for people who otherwise don’t like carrot cake. I know this because I don’t like Carrot cake or cream cheese frosting.
Please don’t judge me.
There are no nuts, or raisins, or weird little bits of fruits in this cake. Or anything else that I guess in my mind turns me off from your average carrot cake. This is just moist and tender and lightly spiced.
And the frosting is vanilla and creamy and light and just has a hint of tang from the cream cheese.
What a wonderful dessert for Mothers Day ladies and gentleman! What do you think?
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, serves 8-10
1 cup soft butter
¼ cups oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 Tb Vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
3 cups shredded carrots (I ran mine through a food processor)
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ tsp vanilla paste (or a scraping of ½ a vanilla bean or just extract)
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbs milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 8” pans (or two 9” pans) with circles of parchment paper and baking spray.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter, oil and sugars.
Add the eggs and vanilla and combine well.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine.
Add the carrots and beat until you have a well mixed batter.
Evenly divide them between the three (or two) cake pans.
Bake them at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Let the cake layers cool on a cooling rack.
While the cake is cooling, make the frosting:
Beat all of the frosting ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer until completely combined and light and fluffy.
When the cake is completely cool, frost the cake, adding frosting to each layer before adding the next cake round.
Garnish with berries or pansies!
She is adorable and the cake looks lovely.
4:03 pm on April 17th, 2012
Please save a slice or two. Your carrott cakewith butter cream frosting is one of my top favorites. Pia is special and we loved spending Saturday with her and Coco.
4:59 pm on April 17th, 2012
Thanks Laura!
6:57 pm on April 17th, 2012
oooh! sorry dad- mom was just here and she said NO MORE cake! they sure do love their baba and mimi- Mason too :)
6:58 pm on April 17th, 2012
This is my kind of carrot cake … less IS more! … and pretty soon, (like tomorrow!)you’ll be shopping for Pia’s prom dress! My goodness, she IS really growing up fast!
9:14 pm on April 17th, 2012
Oh my goodness! She looks so grown up! This cake sounds delectable.
9:26 pm on April 17th, 2012
Your cake is absolutely gorgeous and your recipe looks fantastic! The purple flowers are adorable and I bet your little helper was psyched to try a piece of the finished product. I’ve always been a big fan of carrot cake but have never made a 2-tier and mine always turn out a little unsightly. Very creative!
11:06 pm on April 17th, 2012
yes! less is more. I love it Kristin!
7:07 am on April 18th, 2012
Thanks Vicki- I know, she is quite a big girl over night it seems.
7:08 am on April 18th, 2012
Thank you Julia :)
7:08 am on April 18th, 2012
I love your cake decorations of raspberries and edible flowers – so pretty! I recently saw another carrot cake recipe where they used candied slices of carrot to decorate the frosting. It looked like orange polka dots – very modern.
You are so lucky to have not one, but two adorable daughters to play with in the kitchen. Alas, I have only sons who prefer to play in the garage wih their father.
7:16 am on April 18th, 2012
Thanks Kelley!
I wish my kids were out in the garden with their father. Oh wait- I wish my husband gardened!
7:34 am on April 18th, 2012
Beautiful cake and beautiful daughters!
7:36 am on April 18th, 2012
Thanks Maria :)
7:37 am on April 18th, 2012
This cake is so beautiful! Ans so is your girl! :)
7:50 am on April 18th, 2012
thanks Amanda :)
7:51 am on April 18th, 2012
Carrot cake is a house hold favorite around here. Sharing this with your little girl is a special moment in time that she is always going to remember. As moms, we have to grab and embrace these times, hold on to them and let our kids know we cherish them. This says just that, Heather!
10:01 am on April 18th, 2012
Thank you so much Susan :)
10:21 am on April 18th, 2012
Wow – this looks great. Such a pretty cake and moment!
10:40 am on April 18th, 2012
Aha! So, I’m not the only one that doesn’t love carrot cake! How funny, since this is my hubby’s favorite dessert, ever. I will have to try this to see if it tastes as good as it looks! I may have found one that I love. Except I don’t mind the nuts, so I may add those, or maybe pralines on top!!!
I like adding things on top so the frosting doesn’t have to be perfect… ;)
10:46 am on April 18th, 2012
I too feel the time with my kids slipping through my fingers too quickly. Pia is just darling + the cake you both created looks beyond wonderful. Carrot cake is my favorite!
1:14 pm on April 18th, 2012
Love this post and love that pretty cake!
4:34 pm on April 18th, 2012
This is fantastic. I cannot wait to try it! I am a huge fan of carrot cake.
9:05 pm on April 18th, 2012
Hi Heather, Christos Anesti!!! Hope u had a wonderful Easter, we weren’t able to celebrate this year and that’s difficult since we live in Jerusalem where everything happens but my mother-in-law died and was buried on Good Friday.
I love ur carrot cake especially cause I make it similar since my daughters prefer it without walnuts and raisins.
10:08 am on April 19th, 2012
Oh Nene, I am so sorry to hear about your Mother-in-law. Sometimes the smallest things like a homemade cake can lend comfort, even if for a minute. My prayers are with you and your family.
10:39 am on April 19th, 2012
This would be a gorgeous addition to Mother’s Day! Hope you’re enjoying your time with the girls!
3:03 pm on April 19th, 2012
I think this is a bit moorish…. Which would be my problem… I would eat more and more and more. Sigh…
1:11 am on April 20th, 2012
Thanks Heather for ur prayers, ur very sweet, and I think I will make it.
2:21 am on April 20th, 2012
Hi Heather:
I’m planning to make this for my Mom on Mother’s Day. Any suggestions on where to get edible flowers? Glad to learn I’m not the only one that doesn’t like raisins!
6:28 am on April 20th, 2012
depending on what part of the country you are in, I bet that they are easily available. Many stores sell a selection in the herb section of the grocery store. Pansies and jonny-jump ups grow like weeds here in the Northwest. I bet if you cannot find them elsewhere, that you could call your local nurseries and ask for pansies which are widely available. Rose petals are also, edible, beautiful and easy to find.
6:49 am on April 20th, 2012
Oh! I thought there was a special, edible type! lol
7:36 am on April 20th, 2012
Love the pop of color from the beautiful flowers
10:32 am on April 21st, 2012
oh, geeeeez, lady!!! i *love* carrot cake. this looks divinely amazing!
1:56 pm on April 21st, 2012
Hi Heather~ If I wanted to make these into cupcakes, how many would the recipe yield and how long would I bake them? Any direction you could give would be wonderful~
9:35 am on July 23rd, 2012
Hey Ronda, Iw ould guess that this recipe would probably make about 18 cupcakes, and I would bake those about 20 minutes :)
10:18 am on July 23rd, 2012