Receta Best Birthday Carrot Cake
Grumpy's birthday was coming up soon and when it is his birthday, I like to make his favorite things. Ironically, they seem to be the things I make less often. His family was planning to come for a visit to see our new house and spend time with us for Grumpy and his brother Scott's birthday which happen to be only a few days apart. This was the perfect time to make lasagna, cheesy garlic bread, and carrot cake.
I wanted to make an awesome meal. We both took the day his family was going to arrive off to prepare. I made the lasagna completely from scratch, meaning I didn't take the shortcut of using spaghetti sauce. I made my own sauce. I got it all together and was going to put the cover on to refrigerate until it was time to bake. I opened the cupboard door to get the cover, and when I reached up to get it, a 9x9 baking dish and one of my glass loaf pans fell, and the loaf pan shattered the 9x9 baking dish right into my beautifully prepped lasagna. I was devastated. There was no way I could bake that lasagna and feed it to anyone. Talk about a kitchen disaster. I tossed the whole pan of lasagna in the trash and went to the bathroom and turned on the shower and cried. Grumpy came in and told me not to worry about it. Well, I had to worry about it. I had already told his step-mom what I was feeding them and it was supposed to be a special family meal. I cried a little longer in the shower feeling sorry for myself, then after I was dressed, decided to take the jaunt down to the local grocery to buy what I needed to make yet another pan of lasagna. When it was all said and done though, we had an awesome meal. The cheesy garlic bread was my favorite part (did I mention I don't care for meaty lasagna?).
But the cake? Well, for those of us who love dessert (which seems to basically be Grumpy, his step mom and myself), the cake was the prize of the entire day. Let me just say, it took a few days to finish off, but none of that made it in the trash. Seems Grumpy had a happy 42nd birthday after all. :)
Best Birthday Carrot Cake
slightly adapted from allrecipes.com
Cake Ingredients:
- 1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-1/2 cups canola oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups grated carrots
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup dark raisins
- Frosting Ingredients:
- 2-8 oz packages 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-16 ounce box powdered sugar
- chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3-9 inch round cake pans by spraying with non-stick cooking spray and lining with parchment paper. I highly recommend you do this as my cakes have stuck without doing so.
In large mixing bowl combine first 5 ingredients (sugar through baking soda). Add eggs, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil and mix until thoroughly combined. (I use my kitchen aid mixer with paddle attachment, but you can also use a hand mixer).
Stir in grated carrots, walnuts, and raisins. Distribute evengly between the 3 baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, blend cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until creamy and completely combined. Frost cake and decorate with chopped walnuts. I recommend storing leftovers in the refrigerator but it is not necessary (if you don't have room like me!).