Happy Birthday Sis!

Another mission accomplished...my first carrot cake! I've been wanting to make a from scratch carrot cake for a long time now. I finally found a recipe on Peabody's blog that looked perfect so decided to make it this weekend. Now a lot was depending on this cake being good since I was making it for my little sister's birthday. She and my mom were up for the weekend so I thought it would be a great time to make this cake. I was a little concerned, not about the recipe, but about my ability to make a wonderful carrot cake and frosting from start to finish. But thankfully, this turned out so great. My sister, mom, and husband loved it! I sent most of the cake home with my mom and sister so they could eat some later and take some to my dad. My dad just called tonight to say it was the best carrot cake he's ever had. This recipe is a keeper!

Check out more great baking recipes at culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com

Solid Gold Carrot Cake (with my alterations)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup whole milk
1 TBSP vanilla extract
2 TBSP finely chopped crystallized ginger (I didn't have any so used 2 tsp ground ginger)
3 cups firmly packed shredded carrots
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I used chopped pecans)

1. Preheat to 350F. Butter and flour two 9-inch pans or mini muffin pans.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
3. Beat eggs and sugars together on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. At low speed, add the oil, melted butter, milk, vanilla, and ginger and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing until just blended. Add the carrots and walnuts and mix until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly.
4. Bake cakes for 25-30 minutes until they are dark golden brown. For mini cupcakes, it took 15 minutes.
5. Invert cakes onto racks and cool completely. Frost with your choice of frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
PREPARATION:
Directions for cream cheese frosting
Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl; beat well until smooth. Makes enough cream cheese frosting for a 2-layer cake.

Source-cake: Tish Boyle's the Cake Book

Source-frosting: Adapted from Tish Boyle's the Cake Book, 2006

My sister about to blow out the candles. If you look closely, you will see someone else eyeing the cake.