Tomorrow, February 3rd, is National Carrot Cake Day! So, today, I am bringing to you, the Best Carrot Cake Ever! Seriously, this cake is so good! It is easily one of my favorites and I love to make it. You can make it as a cake, sheet, cake, cupcake, or whatever cake you want. It is awesome ! Every year for Thanksgiving, my mom would make this great cake. When I was around 5 or 6 I asked her if I could help. When I found out what went into the cake, I refused to eat it. Let me explain. The secret ingredient in this cake is baby food. I went around telling everyone how gross the cake was because it had baby food in it and as a 5 year old, baby food was disgusting. I mean, I was a big girl now and I was soooo over baby food.
Baby food, now that I have had a ton of experience baking, is a genius idea. You get all the carrot-y goodness, but you don’t have to deal with shredding the carrots. Also, everyone I know who is a non-carrot cake believer, isn’t a fan because of the strange consistency due to the shredded carrots. This carrot cake ends up being super tasty, but without the weird consistency. It’s amazing!
Carrot Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 jars junior size baby carrots (Also known as #3 foods. If you have trouble finding #3, you can do 4 jars of #2 baby food carrots)
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a bundt cake pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.
3. Cream sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Mix in carrots until well combined. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the oil, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix in vanilla.
4. Pour in prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. When cool, top with cream cheese frosting. (recipe below)
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 8 oz packaged of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
Directions:
Cream butter and cream cheese until well combined. Slowly mix in sugar. Finally, mix in vanilla and milk until you have the desired consistency.
I love carrot cake- and what a fun, unique way to make it! I bet the baby food makes it even more moist and flavorful. 🙂