I made my first carrot cake from scratch last night. We had a dinner appointment with a cute couple in our ward and I wanted to bring something last minute. I had a package of these super sweet key lime bars that I was going to make, but realized I only had 2 eggs and the recipe called for 3. So I searched for something that would work with 2 eggs and ended up halving the carrot cake recipe. Even made the frosting from scratch too. I am so proud of myself. I was worried that it might turn out strange after seeing how dark it looked coming out of the oven (I ran out of white flour and used 1/2 wheat...you never know how it might affect what you're cooking). But it was super tasty and fat free too. So if you are looking for a yummy recipe or have never made carrot cake- try this one out; you'll be happy. :)
Carrot Cake (Original recipe yield:1 - 9x13 inch cake)
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into 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. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.
My alterations: I halved the recipe (from lack of eggs), substitued apple sauce for the oil, 1/2 wheat 1/2 white flour, and no nuts - I'm not too big of a nut fan. For the frosting I only used 1/2 of the required powdered sugar and fat free cream cheese. Let me know if you try the recipe (Can't claim it as my own...I got it from http://www.allrecipies.com/.)
Labels: recipes
