Carrot Cake #2

I ended up with a slight glut of carrots.  Not as bad as the potato problem, but I had some from the store in the fridge and more in the Pond ready to pull.  Add to that buying 2 dozen eggs because they were buy-one-get-one and having half a brick of cream cheese from the kugel needing to be used, I came up with an urge to make carrot cake.

Nothing against my previous recipe, but I decided to try a new one.  I found this on Live Well Bake Often.  It's very similar.  The main differences are a proper amount of baking powder and replacing some of the oil with applesauce.  The reduction of liquid is offset by using light brown sugar, which counts as a wet ingredient in the baking world.

If you don't have applesauce, you can substitute sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.  Since the applesauce is an oil substitute, using a different ingredient that is often used for the same purpose does the same thing.

This looks like a lot of ingredients, and I guess it is a lot to measure, but a great deal of it is the leavening agents and spices in the dry mix.

I made a half recipe in two 6" round pans, mainly because I only had enough cream cheese for a half-batch of icing.  It would also fit in an 8"x8" square pan.  And I used the fine shred side of the box grater instead of the actual grating side because I was feeling a little clumsy that day and didn't want to grate my fingers.

2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
*4 eggs
3/4 C vegetable oil
1-1/2 C light brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
*3 C grated or finely shredded carrots
up to 1 cup raisins and/or walnut pieces, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease two 9" round cake pans or one 9"x13" baking dish.  If using cake baking strips, start soaking.  For cupcakes, this recipe makes 2 dozen.  Use paper cup liners in the cupcake pan, but you don't have to spray them.

2.  Sift together dry ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs slightly and add oil, both sugars, vanilla, and applesauce with a whisk.  You don't have to get any beaters or the stand mixer dirty for this one.

3.  Pour wet ingredients into the dry bowl.  Stir until half-mixed, then add in carrots and any nuts or raisins you may choose to include.  Stir until just combined.  Technically, this is a quick bread and not a cake, but it is moist and only slightly more dense than regular cake.  You don't want to over-mix or you'll get holes.  Pour into cake pans, using a scale to get the layers even.

4.  Slip on wet baking strips, if using.  Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test.  If making cupcakes, 20-25 minutes.  Let rest in the pan 10-15 minutes, until cool enough to turn out.  For a 9x13, loosen the edges but leave in the pan.  Allow to cool fully before icing.  Can be wrapped and stored one day in the fridge or a few weeks in the freezer.

Icing
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
2 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1.  In mixer with the paddle, beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy.

2.  Gradually add powdered sugar to make a fluffy icing.  Add vanilla and beat again.

Assembly

1.  Trim round cakes flat.  Rectangle and cupcakes are fine as they are.  I actually was going for a more homemade, rustic look and only flattened the bottom layer.  I didn't crumb coat either, or make any effort to achieve a smooth surface.  Until two years ago, I didn't know about any of those professional techniques, and the cakes still tasted the same.  I suppose I would have done a better job if I was taking this anywhere.  Didn't really care if I was only making this for my week's tea time.

2.  For a layer cake, use some icing as a filling.  Set top cake on and finish icing with top and sides.  For decorations, reserve some frosting in two bowls and color orange and green.  Pipe into carrot shapes with a round tip (I used #7) and a small leaf tip, respectively.  With so little green in my chosen design, I just used the toothpick from the gel color as a brush and painted the leaves.

Makes 1 9" layer cake, about 16 servings

Difficulty rating  :)