Carrot Cake Your Family is Sure to Love

Carrot cake is one of those things that everyone in our family loves.  It can't be just any carrot cake, it has to be our carrot cake recipe.  We have made it our unofficial Easter dessert.  

When I was younger I never paid any attention to carrot cake because most people add nuts and/or raisins to it and I can't stand either of those things in cake.  Some places try to make it super fancy and have large strips of shredded carrots and that isn't great either.  Then I had Ethel's carrot cake bars.  That moment changed everything in the carrot cake world for me.  The bars were amazing and she was kind enough to share her "secret" ingredient with me.  So what was Ethel's "secret" ingredient?  Baby food!  It sounded bizarre to me but they were fabulous.  I regret not thinking at the time to have asked her for her recipe but I wasn't into baking and making things from scratch at that point in my life.  

I got into making things from scratch several years ago and I made a point to seek out a carrot cake recipe that was reminiscent of Ethel's delicious bars.  I tweaked the recipe a few times and I think it's just about perfect.  Today I'm going to share it with you so you might make it for your family for Easter.  I hope your family loves it as much as mine does.  

Betty's Carrot Cake

3 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup of vegetable oil

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8oz baby food carrots (or pureed frozen carrots from last season's garden)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix eggs, sugar, and oil together.  Add dry ingredients and vanilla extract.  Fold in the carrots.  If you are making a bundt cake make sure you grease the pan extra good.  I use butter flavored Crisco because that works easiest for me.  Bake your bundt 40-45 minutes.  You can use a 9x13 pan for the same amount of time.  If you are doing cupcakes, make sure to spread the batter between 24 or they will get too big.  Cupcakes bake for about 21 minutes.  Make sure to let your cake cool before removing it from the pan and frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Mix the ingredients until smooth and then frost your cake.  When I do cupcakes I color some frosting green and orange to make a little frosted carrot on each cupcake.  Be creative and have fun!

Last year's bundt frosted by Esmeralda.