Let Me Eat [Carrot] Cake

A while back, a friend of mine (Pat) was telling me about his prep work to make a carrot cake. It sounded a bit ridiculous… until I tried a slice of it.

Suddenly, all those steps made perfect sense. I have found my favorite carrot cake! (and I like carrot cake a lot, anyway).

I could talk about it all day, but there’s enough here that I’m just going to get to the recipe Pat graciously gave me to post here…

The Two Day Carrot Cake:
6 cups shredded carrots
1 cup brown sugar

Combine carrots and brown sugar and let stand for 1 or more
hours; I like to let them set for about 6.

1 cup white raisins – not the large one just the regular size.
3 cups very hot water
3 tbsp rum

Combine these three and let them stand for an hour at least. I actually prepare these the same time that I do the carrots.

1 cup of walnut halves chopped and toasted. (Don’t use walnut pieces, the oils in the nuts go rancid too easily)

The Dry:
3 cups all purpose flour or cake flour (If using all
purpose sift twice)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt – I prefer sea salt
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4tsp ground cloves

Mix in a bowl with a wire whisk and set aside

The Wet:
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup white sugar

Whip or use hand mixer till frothy

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 tsp vanilla – always use organic
1 cup crushed pineapple that has been drained not pressed

Preheat the oven to 350

Prior to combining the wet and dry ingredients prepare your baking pans. either use two 10 inch pans or three 9 inch pans. I use shortening and all purpose flour to prepare my pans.

Combine The Wet and The Dry till just blended.

Drain the raisins.

Add the Raisins, Carrots and Walnuts to the Batter.

Don’t over mix…

Add the batter to your prepared pans making sure to make a divot in the center of each cake. This will prevent crowning and minimize the need for any trimming.

Put the cake pans in the oven, then, about 40 or 45 minutes, later test cake to see if it’s done. If a toothpick test is clean then the cake is done.

Place the cakes on a cooling rack and let them set for about 15 minutes.

After 15min pop the cakes out and wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer immediately. Leave them there over night.

The next morning before you go to work pull the cakes out and put them in the fridge. When you get home you will be ready to make the frosting…

I use regular cream cheese frosting between the layers, it holds up to the weight of the cake better, especially if you are using three layers. Then with the cream cheese frosting left over after the cake layers are stacked but the outside of the cake is not yet frosted I measure what is remaining. If I have 2 cups remaining, I add 1 cup of whipped cream and fold into the cream cheese frosting. It makes for a very light but rich taste that is out of this world…

Icing:
3lb cream cheese
4 or 5 cups of powdered sugar
4 tsp vanilla
2 sticks butter. softened

Whip cream cheese and butter till light add vanilla and whip again till well mixed. Scrape down bowl and mix again.

Add sugar – Start with 3 cups, one at a time, then taste. You can add sugar or vanilla gradually to your liking.

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar

Whip till stiff

Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture by hand. Do this gradually or you will break the whipped cream.

There are other recipes for carrot cakes out there but none better than this. I LOVE carrot cake. This is the only cake that I make and I only make it two or three times a year or for very special friends. I ask that you trust the process at least once. then find your own variation. It took me YEARS to get this down, just try it…

As Pat suggests, try it this way at least once. If you do, let me know how it turns out! One variation I want to try is to do one layer of carrot cake and one layer of cheesecake… Yum! But, honestly, this needs nothing more; it’s already fantastic!