Recipe: Carrot Cake

Home, sweet home. Or at least home, sweet L.'s  home. I so enjoyed my time back East, not the least of which included hearing vermilion leaves go crunch underfoot, swinging on the front porch with a Scarlett O'Hara in hand and learning to coax a smile from baby S. What a dreamboat he is... (sigh)

L. and I made good use of her kitchen, trading off baby S. as needed to stir the artichoke and snap pea risotto or throw another dollop of raspberry-orange-ancho chile marinade on the sizzling grouper. But the star of the week was the carrot cake my mom brought up in honor of dad's recent birthday.

Every year he chooses a new cake and this year it was carrot, so mom pulled out her tried and true recipe from my grandmother's neighbor, Mrs. C. It was scrummy! L. and her husband noshed on it all weeklong for dessert (not to mention breakfast and midnight snack). I had a piece, enough to confirm that it was moister than any cake I've ever had and slathered in decadent cream cheese icing. And then my fun, new egg allergy kicked in and I decided one piece would have to be plenty.

Delicious Carrot Cake
Serves 12

For the cake:
2 cups flour                  
2 cups sugar   
2 tsp cinnamon      
2 tsp baking soda   
1 tsp salt   
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
3 cups grated carrots

For the icing:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter    
1 1-pound box confectioner's sugar         
2 tsp vanilla     
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour three round cake pans. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add oil and stir well. Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each to mix well. Fold in the carrots. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the icing: In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, butter, and confectioner's sugar. Stir in vanilla. Once cool, ice the top of each cake, placing one on top of the next until you have three tiers, then ice the final top and sides. Sprinkle nuts on top.

Comments

[Susan]

You're allergic to eggs now? Oh my goodness... What happens? Do you swell up like Bill when he eats milk? (he refers to it as "Death by pizza...") and has trouble breathing. Ugh. Or do you get the funny rash? I have another friend who is allergic to eggs and she gets a rash when she eats anything with eggs.

[Catherine]

Yeah, it stinks. It's only been about 6 weeks so I'm still figuring it out, but it makes my poor tummy H-U-R-T! I've become a label reader, too...

[Fatemeh]

OMG, what are you going to do when you go back to Manresa??

Is Mr. Food Musings going to get your "Egg"?

[Catherine]

F -- tell me about it. It's the FIRST thing I thought of! I don't know, I guess I'll just have to tell them I can't eat it and hope they have pity on me and serve me something else. At least I've gotten to enjoy it twice in a lifetime...

[clare eats]

Oh that is terrible! Maybe it will goaway if you abstain for awhile, that often happens if it is an intolerance. *fingers crossed*

Thanks heaps for posting the carrot cake recipe!

[Oliver]

The carrot cake looks wonderful Catherine, thanks for sharing the recipe. I've tried a few others, but really was never fully satisfied - going by the picture and your confirmation, this one should be the last recipe I'll try for carrot cake! ;)

[Catherine]

Clare -- is that possible? God, I hope so. I may give it a try. I think so far I can eat fake eggs like egg beaters so I won't have to stoop to baking with a weird mix of baking soda and water.

Oliver -- seriously? The best. You'll never go back. Thanks for stopping by!