carrot cake

i made carrot cake. not because i had extra carrots in the fridge. in fact, i went out of my way to go and get me some carrots for this particular project. i made carrot cake, because...i had extra cream cheese frosting from the other day's red velvet cupcakes. i didn't want to bake more red velvet cupcakes and was thinking about what would be the perfect something-something for the frosting when i thought of a carrot cake.

i made one once, aeons ago, but i think it was just a so-so kinda carrot cake, you know? because i never did attempt to make it again. but this one...aiyo!! this recipe is a keeper. definitely. it made my trip to tesco, braving all the cars and the challenge of getting a parking spot, all worthwhile.

the best part of this recipe is that, i just googled and found it. well, not exactly like that laaaahhh...but something like that. most of the recipes i found required pineapples lah, walnuts lah...i had walnuts, but was just too lazy to get them involved with the cake. i just wanted a recipe with carrots...and maybe raisins. and... i found it! here!

i've been a silent reader of david lebovitz's blog for quite some time now and when i found the recipe there, i immediately wanted to give it a try. plus, the ingredients were pretty basic and the method super simple.

i made the cake. i loved it. EVERYONE (i don't normally use CAPS, but i just HAD to emphasize. haha!) loved it. it's really moist, not too sweet. all the ingredients seem to compliment each other. now, i didn't prepare the frosting as per the one that came with the recipe because i had leftovers from mine, remember. but i can tell you this, my frosting rocks, as well! :-p

ready for the recipe?

let's go!!

you will need:

4 large eggs, at room temperature

60ml vegetable oil 

180ml melted brown butter, or more oil (me lazy to brown butter, me more oil)

1 tsp vanilla essence

280g flour

400g sugar, i used brown sugar

2 tsps baking soda

1 tbs cinnamon

generous pinch each of nutmeg and cloves (me no have cloves, me omitted)

1 tsp salt

375g loosely packed grated carrots

60g raisins, preferably golden raisins or sultanas (me no have, me used normal, but me soak in water to plump 'em up)

frosting:

450g cream cheese at room temperature

110g unsalted butter at room temperature

240-g-360g powdered sugar

a few drops of vanilla

the how to:

1)  preheat oven to 180°C and prepare your baking tins. i used two 9" tins.

2)  sift together all the dry ingredients and set aside.

3)  in a mixer with paddle attachment, beat the eggs until they are pale and frothy, then drizzle in the oil, melted butter and vanilla.

4)  in goes the dry ingredients, mix carefully till just combined.

5)  then add in the shredded carrots and raisins.

6)  divide the batter between two baking tins and bake for 30-45 minutes.

7)  to make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter till smooth, slowly add in the powdered sugar till the mixture is light and silky. add in the vanilla.

8)  cool the cakes before you frost them or you'll end up with melted frosting. *aint purrty*

super easy. super yummy. go ahead, give it a go!!

you can learn how to brown butter, here.

recipe source: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/