Classic Carrot cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis

There was a time when you would always find cake in my refrigerator!! Seriously, it was a joke amongst friends that anytime they would visit, they would without a doubt get to eat cake.

Everyone in my house loves cake so much that before a batch of cake finished the next one was popped into the oven to bake.  Don't judge us- it was meant more for the kids as they loved taking a piece of cake in their lunchbox everyday (not only for themselves but their friends too!!). This gave me plenty of opportunity to experiment new recipes. There was no reason to complain because I absolutely looooove baking cakes....for friends, family, neighbors, birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, or just without a reason when the mood for baking strikes me.

Sometime back my daughter told me that she is cutting down on sugar (Yes!! You guessed it, she is a teenager!! Just joking!! She will kill me if she reads this!!). Actually she had a severe bout of acne and felt that cutting down on sugar might help make things better. So, we decided not to have cake lying around the house to avoid any temptations. Well!! That lasted for some time and then she had a craving for eating a carrot cake with Cream Cheese icing. 

So here we are!! That is how I came around making this carrot cake which is a bit unusual in our house as usually everyone is cheering for a dark chocolate cake, but who am I to complain? As I told you before I love to bake and need the slightest of reasons to start whipping up a cake batter. 

What I loved about this cake was that it was a breeze to make and turned out so light and moist. Usually the recipes I have tried before were not so successful with the cake turning out heavy and really dense but this recipe turned out perfect. I actually just dumped the batter in a food processor and whipped up the batter within minutes- no extensive whipping or beating for a long time-it was so simple and the end result was outstanding. 

I must say this is one great way to eat up your veggies!! 

Ingredients (recipe minimally adapted from Chowhound)

Serves 8-10

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp all-spice powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg powder

4 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup  butter, melted

5 cups carrots, grated

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Chopped pecans or sliced almonds for decorating (optional)

• Heat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, all-spice powder and salt.
• In the bowl of a food processor, whisk together the eggs, sugars, oil, melted butter, sour cream and whisk for 2-3 minutes till thoroughly combined. Add in the flour mixture and whisk again till thoroughly mixed.
• Stir in the carrots and yes...whisk again for a minute till everything is well incorporated.
• Pour the batter in a greased bundt cake pan or any 9" pan of your choice.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes rotating the pan midway after 20 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center.

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese, confectioners sugar and vanilla essence till smooth and fluffy. Spread on the cooled cake. Decorate with chopped pecans or sliced almonds.

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