Sunday, December 5, 2010

Carrot Cake

My husband just had a birthday and asked for Carrot Cake to celebrate.   Okay... I have a GREAT recipe that is moist, uses OLIVE OIL and tastes amazing!


CARROT CAKE
Ingredients:
  • 1 1/4 C olive oil
  • 2 C brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 T dark molasses
  • 3 C carrots, finely grated
  • 2 C flour
  • 2 t baking soda
  • 1 T cinnamon
  • 1 t nutmeg
  • 1 t ground cloves
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 C walnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 C raisins
  • 1/2 C golden raisins  
Cream Cheese Frosting:
  • 2 pkgs. cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 C butter, softened
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2 - 2 1/2 C powdered sugar
  • 2 T half and half (to thin, just in case)
Directions:   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.   Butter and flour 2 cake pans and set aside.   In large mixing bowl, whisk olive oil and brown sugar together.   Add eggs and molasses and mix well.   Stir in carrots, flour, soda, spices and salt mixing well.  Add nuts and raisins and stir until incorporated.   Spoon into prepared cake pans and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean and then cool.

In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter.   Add powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time until the desired sweetness, adding a bit of half and half if necessary to thin.  Frost cooled cake and enjoy!

In the photo below... I actually have 5 layers.   I increased my recipe to an additional 3rd, baked 3 cakes and once cooled, split them.   I didn't use the last half as the cake towered tall (though it was eaten).   

9 comments:

Hester said...

Oh, how my mouth is salivating right now! And olive oil! Yay! Now, I must ask--did you use extra virgin or just regular olive oil? I'd assume EVOO would impart a stronger flavor into the cake, right? Nevertheless, I am soooo excited to try this out! It looks crazy moist, too :-) Happy birthday to your hubby!

Evan Thomas said...

Yum! The more layers the better. I love all that frosting.

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious layer cake looks amazing :)
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Luna's Recipes said...

This carrot cake looks luxuriously delicious!.. Luna

briarrose said...

Wow this looks delicious and moist. I haven't had a carrot cake in so long.

Becky said...

I love carrot cake and this one looks so moist and delicious with all of those layers and frosting.

Judimae said...

What a great looking cake this is. I love the use of molasses here and perhaps this might be THE dessert to serve for Christmas or New Year's. I found your blog via twitter and will use Google Friend Connect to follow you as well as twitter. Thanks for sharing!

Vicki Wilde said...

Carrot cake is my favorite dessert! I like to pretend that it's good for me, because it's filled with vegetables. Cream cheese is good for you too, right? :)

Mary Bergfeld said...

If your cake is half as good as it looks this is a sure fire winner. I love the use of olive oil here. I hope you have a fabulous weekend. Blessings...Mary