Carrot Cake

As it was my mothers birthday this past weekend, I decided to make her one of her favourite desserts: Carrot Cake. A lot of people are really skeptical of Carrot Cake simply because there's carrot in it. That's just crazy, carrots have a natural sweetness to them and even if you happen to have a batch of not so sweet carrots, they still go super well in this recipe. Paired with another cream cheese icing, this moist cake will be a sure hit. Even my dad enjoyed it (he ate half of the cake himself!) and he's super picky about cakes, trust me. Let's get started!

What You Need:

2 cups of plain flour
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups of finely shredded carrot
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup of butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons of vanilla
4-5 cups of icing sugar

Ya Ready?

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

2. Add the carrot, eggs and oil and beat with an electric mixer (or a super amazing mixing arm) until everything is beautifully combined!

3. Now choose the baking tins you'd like to use. I chose three 9 1/2 inch round baking tins because I wanted the cake to be super fancy. I don't know...more layers to me means it's more impressive, maybe that's just me! What you want to do is grease your tins and then flour them. This ensures that the cake doesn't stick to the tin after baking! Make sure every little bit of those tins are greased and floured! Respect your cake!

4. Pour the batter equally into the tins. I tapped them on the counter top to help get rid of the bubbles! Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick that is inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean!

5. As you cool your cakes, get to work on the icing. The key to really nice and fluffy icing is to whip the hell out of it. I used an electric hand mixer for this. Cream the butter, cream cheese and vanilla together until mixed thoroughly. Gradually add the icing sugar....slowly though, you don't want it going everywhere. Keep on adding the sugar until the icing gets nice and stiff, yet fluffy. Set aside!

6. Flip one of the cakes onto a plate, ice the top with about 1/2 inch of icing. Place another cake on top of that one and ice, and then place the last cake on top. Ice the top and sides! I find messy and "dippy" icing looks nicer. It gives the cake a lovely effortless-I-just-whipped-this-cake-together-in-no-time-at-all feel.

7. Once you're done icing, you are totally done. I put a few shreds of carrot on top just to let everyone know it was indeed a carrot cake. Serve it up and enjoy!

Just to make myself feel better about eating this cake, I like claiming it's part of my five-a-day. Carrots are healthy, yo! Happy Birthday, Mom!

Now eat the food!