Favorite Way to Eat Carrots!

CARROT CAKE!
What else?
This is another great recipe from The Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond.  It's from her Holiday Cookbook, which I LOVE!  On Ree's blog post about this cake, she talks about Sigrid herself, so check this out too.  Also, her blog recipe puts the cake in a sheet pan, but it's so much yummier in a Bundt pan, so please do it that way!  Plus, then you can serve it on a super cute cake stand!  Naturally, I don't have any pictures because we ate it too fast. And lately, I think of things to blog about after they've actually happened.  But trust me, it's SO good.  I think the best carrot cake I've ever had!

Sigrid's Carrot Cake

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

4-6 large carrots, washed and peeled

Frosting:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 pound (3 ¾ cups) powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, chopped fine (optional)

11. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

22. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

33. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugar and oil.

44. Then crack in the eggs and mix until well combined.

55. Add the dry ingredients to this bowl and mix until smooth.

66. Grate the carrots (you should have about 2 cups)

77. Add the carrots to the mixing bowl and mix until they’re completely incorporated into the batter.

88. Pour the batter into a well-greased Bundt pan.

99. Smooth out the surface of the batter with a spatula, then bake for 40-45 minutes, until the cake is set.

110. Turn the cake out of the pan and allow it to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing:

1  Add butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla to the bowl of an  electric mixer and mix until the icing is light and fluffy and smooth.

2  (Optional: add the chopped pecans to the icing.)

3  When the cake is fully cooled, spread the icing evenly over the cake and serve!

(store leftover cake in the refrigerator)

My tips:

-My cake took about 50-52 minutes to bake.  Check every 2 minutes at the end because a little moist is always better than a dry cake.  

-You could totally eat this without icing, it's that good, but the icing is also outrageously good!

-Store it in the fridge, but take it out with plenty of time to serve at room temp.  Cold cream cheese frosting isn't nearly as tasty. 

-The icing recipe makes a lot!  I frosted 2 cakes with one batch and every piece was still perfectly covered. 

-A slice of cake and coffee totally counts as breakfast! (and lunch and dinner) :)