Carrot Cake

For someone who claims not to be crazy about desserts, I realize that I have been on a bit of a dessert binge recently (at least as far as blog posts are concerned). Perhaps I will break down the "Cookies and desserts" category on my blog into smaller headings so that we can all feel better about my eating habits.

Last week, Anna, Jenny and I went to harvest the last of our garden (see more about it here). We dug up tons of carrots and talked the whole time about all the things we could make with them. We all agreed that carrot cake was our first choice (Anna isn't a fan of cooked carrots). I have been using the Betty Crocker recipe, but haven't been all that happy with the results. I went looking around and found this, which I have modified a bit from the original recipe. It's good.

Carrot Cake
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. When it's cooled, top with cream cheese frosting. We tried the recipe below, which wasn't as stiff as our usual recipe. I liked it, though, because it tasted great and was less sweet than my usual version.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake. Note: This recipe makes enough to frost the cake after it has been removed from the pan. If you put all of this on a cake that is still in the pan, prepare to be sick.