Carrot Cake

This is the 1st time I made carrot cake. It came out very nice and it is really a workable recipe that I found from www.sleeplessinkl.com website. Thanks to her, my dream of trying to make a carrot cake came thru and the frosting is really to die for. I cannot stand too sweet dessert. So I adjusted the sugar content to suite my taste. It is not going to be my last carrot cake, trust me. I am going to add more carrots and lessen the bicarbonate soda next time.

Here goes the Recipe from sleepless in KL:

    4 eggs
•    1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
•    1 cup white sugar (Just Nice)
•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•    2 cups all-purpose flour
•    2 teaspoons baking soda  ( Next time I will use just 1 teaspoon, I dislike the aroma of Baking soda, Just a personal dislike. Nothing against the recipe. It is still delicious but I have sensitive nose.)
•    2 teaspoons baking powder
•    1/2 teaspoon salt
•    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Next time I should only use 1/2 teaspoon. Very powerful taste)
•    3 cups carrots, grated coarsely (Next time I should use 4 Cups)
•    1 handful walnuts, chopped coarsely (quantity can be increased, to taste)
•    1 handful of raisins (or to taste – don’t put too much: it will make the cake too sweet)

Ingredients for the frosting:

•    1/2 cup butter, softened
•    8 ounces cream cheese, softened (1 box Philadelphia cream cheese or 1 tube of Tatura cream cheese)
•    2-4 cups confectioners’ sugar (TIP: I only used 1 cup sugar because I don't want it to be too sweet)
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 round pans & line sides and bottom of pan with baking paper. (I don’t like the taste of the flour, so I don’t grease & flour my baking tins anymore.)
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
3. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
4. Stir in carrots.
5. Fold in walnuts and raisins.
6. Pour into prepared pans. 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:

1. In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
2. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3. Frost the cooled cake.

IMPORTANT: The key to a moist carrot cake is baking it until just cooked, i.e. when you stick a toothpick in the centre, it comes out clean. I never really time my baking. I just wait for the a strong, yummy aroma to waft out of the oven. That usually signals that the cake’s done. Take a peek inside the oven; if the top of the cake looks set, open the oven and stick a toothpick in the centre. If some batter sticks to the toothpick, that means the cake is not ready yet. Close the oven door and wait for a few minutes. Remember: the longer the cake stays in the oven, the drier it gets.

Oh, and as for softening the butter and the cream cheese, just leave it out at room temperature for half an hour or so. Never put it in the microwave.

Finally, make sure the cake has cooled completely before  you frost it. Otherwise, the cream cheese frosting will melt.

Garnish the top of the cake with almond slivers, if desired.