Carrot Cake

My sister, Martha, was in town from Portland a few weeks ago. My mom had a BBQ so friends and family would have time to visit with her. The BBQ also fell on Jyoti's birthday weekend. We all know his favorite cake is carrot cake, so that's what I brought to the shindig!

It was delicious! I was so pleased with the rave reviews from Jyoti and my husband! (Chris is always one to give suggestions to make a recipe better, but he didn't have any this time!) I've never made carrot cake before, but it was easy and so very yummy. It's definitely something I will make again and again.

But it wasn't a pretty cake. Although I tried not to incorporate too much air when I was mixing the ingredients, the center of each cake still fell. And then it stuck to the bottom of the pans, so the cake came out in a couple of pieces. I managed to piece it together, frost it, and then covered it in chopped pecans. Not great, but the taste made up for it!

Next time, I'll line the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper, and I'll use those strips that promise level cakes. Oh, plus I would make just a little more frosting. I can't get enough cream cheese frosting...

Carrot Cake

For Cake:
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt.
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 c. grated carrots (I used a food processor instead of a grater.)
8 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
1 c. chopped pecans

For frosting:
1/2 c. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots and pineapple. Fold in pecans, and pour into prepared pans.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

To make frosting, combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in pecans and frost the cooled cake, or simply press pecans onto sides and top of frosted cake.

Enjoy!

Lisa hosts Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays over at Blessed with Grace. Visit her for more yummy recipes!