Delectable carrot cake with raisins, walnuts and a rich cream cheese frosting. 

For full recipe see below!

I love this carrot cake because it is pretty easy to make and is super moist. Carrot cake reminds me of spring, so I think it would be good for an Easter brunch or any other special occasions you have going on. I made it for a fundraiser to raffle off a few years ago for Mother’s day.

Let’s talk ingredients.  I made the silly mistake of accidentally buying “Matchstick” shredded carrots at the store. They are too thick and were sort of worm-ish in the cake. What I really meant to buy was shredded carrots. So when you buy your carrots make sure they are relatively finely shredded….just ask yourself: “Will these crunch when I bite into it?” If so they aren’t finely shredded enough. You can buy pre-shedded carrots at the store or you can buy whole carrots and shred them yourself with a hand grater or in a food processor with the grater attachment.

I’ll admit it… the first cake I made today was an absolute disaster! I preheated the oven to the wrong temperature (whoops!), didn’t flour the pans enough, and had thick carrots. I was baffled by the utter failure/calamity of my cake because I’ve been making this recipe since I was ten years old and never had an issue. I promise you though I made it two more times (I’m a little carrot caked out!), and it turned out awesome, so it was probably 90% the baker’s fault and 10% Stop and Shop’s for selling wormy carrots!

Throughout the “Wormy Carrot Tragedy of 2014,” I made the most ginormous mess in the kitchen… my mom walked into the kitchen, and her jaw actually hit the floor… being as supportive of my blog as she is she didn’t say anything, but I could see that she was saying “Is this my kitchen?” in her head. I’m definitely not the messiest baker, but I wouldn’t say the kitchen is shining after I’m through with it either. I think that bakers fall into 4 categories, and I’m probably in the “Caution” category.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you only have one bowl to clean (happy dance)… but I made it three times, so at least I have an excuse for making a mess!

So to start, get out three 9-inch round cake pans for a layer cake or a 9 x 13 baking pan for a sheet cake. The layer cake is fancier and more impressive but requires a little extra work because you’re preparing three pans and then frosting 3 layers. Grease and flour whichever pan you chose. Please, please, please do not be stingy with the oil and flour…get all of the bottom and sides greased and floured very well…it is always better to over grease a little than to under grease.

Put your flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a mixer bowl and use your electric mixer to stir the ingredients together. Add the vegetable oil and eggs and beat on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then beat on medium speed for about a minute until the batter looks consistent.

Now fold in your non-wormy shredded carrots, raisins, and walnuts by hand using a spatula. Do not use your electric mixer for this step because it will beat the air out of your batter when you put the add-in ingredients in. When you dump the carrots, raisins, and walnuts in it will seem that there is too much for your batter to handle but it can, I promise!

Dump the batter into the pans evenly. Bake at 325°F for 38-45 minutes for a layer cake and 48- 55 minutes for a sheet cake. Remember to rotate your pans if you are making a layer cake… I put one on the top rack and two on the middle and rotated every 13 minutes clockwise. Test the cakes with a toothpick, and it will come out clean when the cake is done. Don’t worry if you create a hole in your cake… that’s what frosting is for!

Let the cake cool in the pan for 8 minutes and then invert it onto a cooling rack. You may have to run a knife around the sides to loosen it from the pan. Let the cake(s) cool completely before frosting. As you can see in the picture below, some flour residue may be left from the pan, just scrape it off with a butter knife if it bothers you!

For the frosting, cream your softened cream cheese and butter together in an electric mixer until there aren’t any lumps left. Add in your vanilla extract. Then add sifted powdered sugar a little at a time. Do not add it all at once or you will have a powdered sugar volcano eruption come out of your mixer and your clothes will have a new white polka dot design. 

Assembling a Layer Cake. Put down one cake on the platter you want to use. Once you have frosted the cake you can’t transfer the cake to a different platter unless you put it on a piece of cardboard. Frost that layer then slide the next layer onto the first. Frost that layer and then slide the third cake onto the second. Now spoon the rest of your frosting onto the top and pull it down the sides being careful to not rub the cake to avoid getting crumbs in the frosting. Run the knife or straight-edged spatula around the side to smooth the frosting out.

Assembling a Sheet Cake. Spoon all of your frosting onto the top and pull it down the sides being careful to not rub the cake to avoid getting crumbs in the frosting. Run the knife or straight-edged spatula around the side to smooth the frosting out.

Decorating. I piped carrots onto the top of the layer cake and put walnuts on the sides of the sheet cake. You could also write a message on the top for a special occasion.

…and voilà!

Source: Sweet Eats by Rose Dunnington