12 February 2009

A Carrot Cake to celebrate my 100th post!


Dearest Readers,

To celebrate my 100th post, I thought I'd share with you a fabulous carrot cake recipe.  I made this for my husband's birthday when we first started dating and I'm pretty sure it is the reason he first fell in love with me!  (Of course he has since discovered a million other reasons to love me!).  I'm sending this over to Debbie at The Friday Friends for her Carrot Cake Showdown!

Carrot-Ginger Layer Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, April 1999.

Ingredients for cake:

unsalted butter, for pans
3 c. all purpose flour
1 c. (3 oz.) pecan halves, toasted and chopped
1 lb. large carrots, peeled and grated finely (should yield 2 1/2 cups grated)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 c. lowfat buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbls. freshly grated ginger
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 recipe for Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

1.  Butter and flour two 8 x 2 inch round cake pans.  Tap out excess and set aside.  
2.  Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
3.  In a large bowl, place grated carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sugar, vegetable oil and ginger.  Whisk until combined.
4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined.  Fold in the chopped pecans.
5.  Divide the batter between 2 cake pans and cook until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes.
6.  Remove the pans from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes.  Turn cakes out onto the rack and let stand until completely cool.
7.  When completely cool, cut each cake in half crosswise to make 4 layers.  Place a layer on a cake stand and spread 3/4 c. frosting on top.  Repeat with the other layers.  On the last layer, spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 3-4 hours.


Orange Cream-Cheese Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 1999

Ingredients:

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 8 oz. bars of cream cheese, room temperature
3 c. confectioners sugar
1 Tbls. freshly grated orange zest
2 Tbls. freshly grated ginger
pinch of salt

Directions:

1.  Beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer approximately 2-3 minutes until fluffy.  
2.  Add the orange zest, ginger and salt and continue to beat well.
3.  Turn the mixer to low and beat in the 3 c. of confectioners sugar.  Beat until fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.


36 comments:

Wandering Coyote said...

Oooooooh...Decadent! I'm not the hugest fan of carrot cake but this looks positively luscious!druffe

Cathy said...

YUM! Hubby's been bugging me to make carrot cake and I've never done it. Time to try out your recipe!

Finla said...

Congragulations with your century post and wishing you many more posts .
I love carrot cakes and this looks so yumm.

Meg said...

Happy 100! What a beautiful cake! I love all the layers.

Bob said...

Happy 100! I love a good carrot cake and I bet ginger makes it even better.

Varsha Vipins said...

yummy.n perfect for Vals day too.:)Congrats on the 100 post..:)

Chef E said...

Oh oh oh...you know I would not miss this party!!! Pass me a pretend piece please, this is my second favorite cake in the world!!! And you know there is nothing like homemade and your piece screams goodness...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! What a delicious way to celebrate!

Karen said...

Look at all those delicious layers! Yummy :)

Sweet Cheeks said...

Oh I am soo going to have to make this. I love, carrot cake, however, I ADORE the idea of orange cream cheese frosting. Yummy!!

Reeni said...

MMMM, four layers of loveliness. Love the orange flavored frosting!

Anonymous said...

what an awesome recipe. It even looks like it might be low fat/ healthy?!?! It certainly doesn't look like it though. And congrats on the posts!!!!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I love how you've decided to celebrate - I just love carrot cake and yours sounds fab, what with the ginger and orange cream-cheese frosting 'n' all :)

AK Mom said...

CONGRATULATIONS on your 100th post!!
I love carrot cake, and will definitely give yours a try. It looks delicious. :)

Melanie said...

Happy 100th post! I love carrot cake and that looks downright delicious!

Mary-Laure said...

Awwwww, carrot cake with tons of frosting is my absolute favorite...

Anonymous said...

I am a HUGE fan of carrot cake...and this looks SOOOO...good..love the addition of orange. I will definitely be trying this..thanks for the recipe:-)

Anonymous said...

CONGRATS! And I'm looking forward to reading your next posts.
I love carrot cake and I have one in my blog, but I've never thought of adding cream cheese in it, great idea! I love the photo as well.

Olga said...

Hi!
Thank you so much for visiting me and your kind comments! I really hope you try out the mussels dish.

Congratulations on your 100th post!
By the way, I spent 8 years in Seattle :)

Recipeswap said...

What a lovely cake to celebrate your 100th post....

Donna-FFW said...

MY GOODNESS!! Does this ever look sooo good. I love the combos of all the flavors!! LOVE IT! It looks perfect!! I have to try this one.

Stash said...

Carrot cake is my Dad's favorite- great excuse to try it out. Now if only I could get out of this hotel...

Tangled Noodle said...

Happy 100th! What a delicious cake to celebrate such a momentous occasion. Wishing you many more! Now, how about a slice of that cake . . . !

Unknown said...

i love carrot cakes..and your looks so delicious with the frosting..
Happy blogging..and looking forward for more delcious recipes from you..

Femin Susan said...

Hi.........
What a yummy cake.....

a quiet life said...

this looks fabulous!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Happy 100! Glad to have found your blog and wish you several 100 more posts.

The cake looks great! Funny I was thinking of carrot cake yesterday!

pigpigscorner said...

I haven't had carrot cake in ages! This looks realy delicious ...love the layers!

Anonymous said...

Carrot cake is definitely a favorite of mine. I'll definitely try this out!

Congratulations on your 100th post!

The Duo Dishes said...

The orange cream cheese frosting is a nice touch! Congrats on your milestone. :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your 100th post! I'm so sad, ever since I moved to Hawaii I lost my own carrot cake recipe...I think I'm going to make yours to ease my pain!

Alicia Foodycat said...

I am always so impressed by cakes with 4 layers - they look so professional! But the flavours in yours sound just wonderful.

brandin + kari said...

Carrot Cake is my Absolute Favorite. I love the orange scented cream-cheese. Great idea! Go martha.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

This is one of my favorite desserts.

Congratulations!

Patricia said...

Congrats on the 100th post! The carrot cake looks fabulous :)

Unknown said...

Happy Blogoversary!! That is incredible! This cake looks great and if it didn't make him fall in love with you I bet it helped 'sweeten' the deal :)

Congrats,
Em
www.justeatfood.com

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