Carrot Cake

Easter and Carrot Cake seem to go together. My dad, Max Mawhinney, loved this cake, sure do miss him.

Carrot Cake

2 1/4 Cups All-purpose flour (2 ½ cups at high altitude)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoons nutmeg, optional

1 teaspoon Salt

1 ½ Cups granulated sugar

½ cups brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 ½ cups vegetable or canola oil

1-pound carrots peeled and grated (3 cups)

½ to 1 cup roasted pecans, chopped

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

5 Tablespoon butter softened

1 Tablespoon sour cream (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups (4 ½ oz) confectioners’ sugar

½ cups chopped roasted pecans, optional

FOR THE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour cake pans, either

THREE 9-inch pans, or One 13x9 pan or One Bundt pan

Wisk or sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Peel and grate the carrots, the prepackaged shredded carrots are too “dry” and don’t work well. Set aside.

In food processor or electric mixer bowl, add both sugar and eggs and process until frothy and thoroughly combined. With machine running, add oil in a steady slow stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified. Pour mixture into the flour mixture. Stir to combine. Add the carrots and pecans stir by hand to combine.

Pour into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. 3 of the 9-inch pans 20-23 minutes 13x9 pan 40 to 50 minutes. Bundt pan 1 hour.

Cool completely before frosting. If removing from pans, turn out cakes onto cooking rack no more than 10 minutes after removing from oven.

FOR THE FROSTING. When cake is cool, combine cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla in bowl. Combine until smooth, add confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth. You may need to add a bit of milk to get the right consistency. Spread evenly over cake. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

*To make Gluten free use Gluten Free use One of One flour mixture and ½ teaspoon xanthium gum if your flour mixture does not contain it. Make only in 13x9 pan, it won’t cook well in the Bundt pan. Cup cakes also work well Gluten Free.

*Cake is Dairy Free as written. To make frosting Dairy Free use Dairy Free Margarine and Dairy Free Yogurt instead of the cream cheese and sour cream.

Jan Dairy Keen