My First Attempt at Carrot Cake

Over the weekend, I was itching to bake. Lately, it's been a lot of studying and some quick meals here and there, but this weekend, it was time to indulge and get creative in my teeny kitchen. My friend M told me that his favorite dessert is carrot cake, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I've never made carrot cake, but I'm always up for a challenge...especially in the kitchen.

I had such fun, although there were some setbacks. Since I wasn't at home, I didn't have high tech equipment, like a food processor and hand mixer. I learned that those luxuries make baking a lot easier and less painful.

Shredding 1 lb of carrots by hand was such a pain in the butt. Not to mention REALLY HURT my hands. The hand that was holding the grater basically wouldn't open for a few minutes and my grating arm, it was like Popeye's arm. Ouch! Still, I got the job done, which is what counts.

I also learned that electric mixers make life easier and blend things much better than a whisk or spatula. I was able to mix things properly, but the effort required was more than I expected. Either way, the carrot cake was baked and it was a hit! 

I divided the cake in two pieces. M enjoyed half of the carrot cake that I gave him and the staff in my dad's office also really enjoyed the cake. Not bad for a first try! If you like carrot cake or are just curious, this recipe is a winner! 

Ingredients For Cake:

- 5 ounces (1 cup) dark raisins

- 1 pound carrots (4 cups), shredded finely

- 2 cups all purpose flour (minus 2 tbsp)

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

- 4 large eggs

- 2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 cup granulated sugar

- 1 cup dark brown sugar

- 1 & 1/4 cup vegetable oil

- 5 oz walnuts, cut into small pieces

Ingredients For Cream Cheese Icing:

- 16 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups powder sugar

*This is completely optional. If you do decide to make icing, basically mix all of the ingredients together and make sure everything is mixed well. You want a smooth icing. 

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 8x8 pan. Rub with butter, spray with PAM, line with parchment paper. Whatever works. I personally used PAM.

2. Prepare the carrots. Peel and grate finely. You can either use a food processor, which I highly recommend if you have it, or do what I did and grate by hand. It's a pain in the butt and it hurts your hands after a long time, but it is doable. 

3. Prepare the dry ingredients. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, & cocoa together. Set aside. 

4. Chop up the walnuts. Set aside.

5. In a large bowl, whisk the four eggs. For the next couple steps, you can use an electric mixer if you have it. I didn't, thus everything done by hand.

6. Add vanilla, both sugars, and oil. Mix until well combined. 

7. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture. 

Mix well. 

8. Mix in walnuts and raisins. 

9. Mix in carrots.

10. Once everything is evenly mixed, add batter to prepared baking dish. Bake cake for 35 ~ 40 min or until either the cake springs bake when you touch it and/or the cake starts to pull away from the sides. 

Voila! The Final Product!