March 13, 2022
Over the last six months, Kev and I have been keeping some exciting news quiet from the world (and even some of our family and friends). It never quite seemed like the right time to share the news, but with spring around the corner, we are finally ready to share with everyone that we are expanding our family. Our family of two will soon grow to a family of three. While I haven’t shared much about my pregnancy, I’ve been actively preparing for the arrival of our little one. Kev and I have been slowly preparing all of the necessities for our little one as much in advance as we could. Just this weekend, we finally put together the pieces for the nursery in our home. So far, we have the crib, mattress, and clothes prepared. We are still working on putting together the rest of the furniture. All the while, I’ve been riding the rollercoaster of pregnancy over the last several months. Pregnancy itself has had its ups and downs. No matter how much I read online about pregnancy, I wasn’t fully aware of all of the challenges and changes my body would go through. There were days where I felt extremely nauseous, exhausted, and just uncomfortable. Despite these challenges, the overall joy both Kev and I feel for the upcoming arrival of our little one definitely makes the journey well worth it. As my due date gets closer and closer, I decided to bake up a simple single layer golden raisin carrot cake topped with a cream cheese frosting to celebrate the upcoming momentous occasion. Growing up, I didn’t typically eat carrot cakes. My family’s cake of choice was usually a sponge cake topped with a light cream frosting and fresh fruits. It wasn’t until I got older and started working that I finally experienced the joy of carrot cakes for the first time. Colleagues I worked with would bring in carrot cakes topped with cream cheese frosting to office celebrations and birthday parties. I remember taking a bite into a carrot cake and finding the texture very different from the cakes I was used to eating growing up. The carrot cakes I remember eating were usually on the denser side and had a perfect balance of spices. There was something so satisfying and almost magical about a carrot cake. It seemed to have the perfect balance of tangy, sweet, and spice all folded into a dense cake. Carrot cakes were also very popular desserts of choice for office celebrations and birthday parties, and thus I never found a need to learn to make my own version until a couple years ago. Right when the pandemic started, I began experimenting with making my own version of a carrot cake because I suddenly missed the dessert. I thought back to all of the elements I loved in the carrot cakes I would eat during celebrations to help me in developing my version. I wanted my take on carrot cake to be dense, packed with shredded carrots, and have the perfect balance of flavors and colors just like the ones I remember eating at office gatherings. With spring coming very soon and our bundle of joy arriving shortly after, it was only natural to bake up a carrot cake to celebrate the joyous occasion. My version of carrot cake features a blend of spices, golden raisins, and tons of shredded carrots (two cups to be exact). The cake batter comes together quickly in one mixing bowl and is then poured into a cake pan and baked until golden perfection. Unlike more traditional cakes, my favorite carrot cakes were dense, moist, filled with the perfect balance of spices, and had the right amount of sweetness weaved throughout the cake. The cream cheese frosting pairs beautifully with the carrot cake as it lends a sweetness, tanginess, and creaminess to the cake. Plus, since the cake is packed with shredded carrots, I can convince myself I’m getting my serving of veggies for both myself and my baby.
For the golden raisin carrot cake:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
· ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
· ½ cup vegetable oil
· ½ cup granulated sugar
· ½ cup dark brown sugar
· 2 large eggs
· ¼ cup golden raisins
· 2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 3 medium-sized carrots)
For the cream cheese frosting:
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
· 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
· 1-2 teaspoons water, as needed
· orange gel food coloring (optional)
· green gel food coloring (optional)
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a springform pan with parchment paper. Generously oil and flour the parchment-lined springform pan. Set aside.
2) In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix together the vegetable oil, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Fold in the golden raisins and shredded carrots. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix in between each addition until the batter is fully incorporated. The cake batter will be fairly thick at this point. Continue mixing to ensure the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated.
4) Carefully pour the cake batter into the springform pan. Use an offset spatula to smooth out the batter. Transfer the springform pan to the heated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Test the cake for doneness around 35 minutes by inserting a sharp knife or toothpick into the center of the cake and checking to make sure the knife or toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting, about 2-3 hours.
5) When ready to frost the cake, prepare the cream cheese frosting by blending together the room temperature unsalted butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. Slowly add in the confectioners’ sugar ½ cup at a time as needed and blend until fully incorporated. You may end up not using all of the confectioners’ sugar. If the frosting becomes too thick, add in a teaspoon or two of water to loosen up the frosting. Keep mixing the frosting until it achieves a smooth and spreadable consistency.
6) If desired, reserve 1/3 of the cream cheese frosting for coloring and piping out additional decorations before frosting the top of the carrot cake using the remaining cream cheese frosting. With the reserved frosting, divide the frosting into two equal parts. Add orange gel food coloring to one part of the reserved frosting and green gel food coloring to the other part of the reserved frosting. Blend until the colors are evenly distributed throughout each part of the frosting. Transfer the colored frosting to separate piping bags and use them to pipe out carrot and stem decorations onto the top of the frosted cake. Enjoy!
Takeaways: Leftover carrot cake and frosting can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days (if it even lasts that long in the fridge). For a super simple and easy decorating trick, use a veggie peeler to peel strips of a carrot, then roll up the strips into spirals, and gently press the spirals into the frosted cake. I used both piped-on carrot decorations and rolled-up strips of carrots for decorating my carrot cake.