Karra-Cake

Karra's Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hands down, the best carrot cake recipe I have ever made. Even my son loves these, and I feel a little better letting him eat a cake filled with carrots as opposed to chocolate. My sister claims that she has a rival recipe, however I am still waiting to judge that challenge. Until then, try these on a cold winter's day.

Recipe:
First preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and pull out the cream cheese and butter to soften (see frosting recipe below for amounts).

The cake: 2 cups of sugar, 1 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, 3 eggs.
Mix these ingredients together, adding the eggs one at a time.
2 cups of all purpose flour, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt.
Mix these dry ingredients together and slowly add them to the wet ingredients; add 3 cups of grated carrots, 1 cup of raisins and 1 cup of chopped walnuts. Mix well.
(The walnuts are optional, and if I am making them for a crowd, I usually eliminate them to avoid a possible allergic reaction. I don't want anyone dying on my time)

Add the batter to the cupcake pan, filling each cup 3/4 full...or 1/4 empty depending on your mood. Put the cakes in the oven and bake until you can poke them with a fork and it comes out smooth. I start checking after about 20 minutes.

The frosting: 1 lb. of cream cheese, 1/2 lb. of unsalted butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 3/4 cup of confectionery sugar. Blend together until smooth.
*It is very important that you let the cream cheese and butter soften until blending, otherwise you will get major clumps. You can also adjust the confectionery sugar depending on how sweet you want your frosting.

Wait until the cakes are cool and frost. Decorate with miniature sugar carrots!

ENJOY!