| Carrot Cake | ||||
| Makes (1) 9" round cake | ||||
| Cake | Icing | |||
| 3 sticks | butter, sliced, softened | 8 oz | (1 brick) cream cheese, softened | |
| ________ | 1 stick | butter, sliced, softened | ||
| 2 cups | sugar | 2 tbls | pineapple juice salvaged from earlier | |
| 2 cups | all-purpose flour | 1 lb | (1 box) powdered confectioner's sugar | |
| 2 tsp | baking soda | ________ | ||
| 2 tsp | ground cinnamon | 4 oz | candied pecans, make your own; it’s always better. Click here for the recipe. | |
| 1 tsp | salt | |||
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract | |||
| 4 | eggs | |||
| 8 oz |
(1 can) crushed pineapple (in juice), drained save the pineapple juice for the icing |
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| ________ | ||||
| 12 oz | carrots, pre-weighed, then shredded | |||
| Cake | ||||
 Make the cake first. Preheat the oven to
350°. In a mixer equipped with a beater, add the butter. Mix on medium
until smooth. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and the beater. Add
the rest of the ingredients except for the carrots. Mix on high for 1
minute to ensure everything's well combined.Add the carrots and mix on medium for 1 more minute. Grease and flour (2) 9" diameter cake pans (or spray them with Baker's Joy). Line the bottom of each pan with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit. Spray a little more to coat the paper. Divide the cake mixture equally between the two pans and smooth out the tops. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Invert them onto wire racks to cool thoroughly. |
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| Icing | ||||
 While the cake is baking, make the icing.
Rinse off the mixing bowl and beater. Cream together the cream cheese,
the butter, and the pineapple juice. With the mixer running, slowly add
the powdered sugar carefully so it doesn't fly all over the kitchen.
Once incorporated, mix on high for 2 minutes. Put the mixing bowl in the
refrigerator for about 30 minutes which will thicken it up a bit. Don't
leave it in there too long or you won't be able to spread it.Smear a small dollop of icing in the middle of your serving platter (this is the glue that holds the cake in place). Place the first cake layer on top of the dollop. Spread some icing on top of the layer. Add the second cake layer. Spread the icing over the top and sides, smooth it out, and make it pretty. Using a lazy susan and wetting the icing spreader with warm water will help. You can get the piping bag out if you want to kick it up another notch. Put the pecans in a food processor and give them a fine chop. Sprinkle the nuts on top of the cake. |
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