The best Carrot Cake almost from scratch

Carrot cake is one of those cakes that are either, “oh that was good,” or “WHOA NELLY, that was GOOOOOD!” It either knocks their socks off or just leaves you wishing for something a little more. This cake recipe is one I have tweaked and perfected past the WHOA NELLY point to that point of nirvana. I make two versions, one with traditional cream cheese icing and one with a maple buttercream icing for a delightful change. Be warned, while some of my cakes are fast and easy, this one takes a little extra effort. It is not super low calorie and healthy, but I think, every now and then, an indulgent treat can be INDULGENT and LUXURIOUS. This is that cake.

Whatcha need for the cake

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Golden Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 extra tablespoon of flour
• 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 /3 cup of raisins (cut in 1/2)
• 1 and 1/2 cups of carrots (buy the match stick carrots and put them in the food processor until chopped very fine
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1.5 tsp nutmeg
• 1 and 1/4 cup of water
• An extra spoon of flour set aside to stir into your carrots and raisins to keep them from sinking

Maple Icing (surprise option)

• 1 stick of butter, room temperature and cut into thin slices
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• a large splash of maple syrup (I love the Bourbon Barrel Maple syrup but regular works too) – I usually start with a tablespoon but I’ve been known to add more
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• If your icing needs to be tighter, you can add more butter and/or sugar

Cream Cheese icing (normal option)

• 1 Brick of Cream Cheese (don’t go low fat on this) – 8 oz
• 1 stick of butter
• 3 cups of powdered sugar to start (you may want a thicker icing)
• 1 tsp vanilla

For your cake

• Line your cake pans with foil and then parchment paper (this makes clean up a breeze- no need to wash cake pans)
• Empty your cake mix into a metal mixing bowl
• Add the dry seasonings (nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnamon, extra flour and brown sugar) and stir well
• Put your match stick carrots into your food processor and give it a few spins you don’t want it to be pureed, but you do want a fine consistency so there’s no crunch to your cake- ew
• Cut your raisins in 1/2 (even the little raisins in the Sunmade snack boxes, you don’t want big old chewy chunks of raisins in your cake)
• put those in a bowl and stir in your scoop of flour, make sure the carrots and raisins are well coated
• Break four eggs into a dish and beat them well
• Dump those into a big bowl and add in your water and oil, stir well
• Dump the mixture into your dry mix
• Stir well (it’s going to seem waterier than most mixes) I do not beat this cake, I prefer to stir with a spoon until integrated
• Add in your raisins and carrots
• Dump into your pans and bake (I make two smaller cake pans and 12 cupcakes so mine bake about 20 minutes)
• When your cake is brown and your toothpick is clean, it’s ready

For either of your icings

• Place your butter in a metal bowl and beat until fluffy (if you’re making cream cheese, add the cream cheese in here too)
• Start integrating your sugar by adding 1 cup at a time, beating until fluffy before adding the next cup
• Once all sugar is in and your mix is a fluffy, add your liquids
• You’ll probably have to add some extra powdered sugar to get your consistency back to creamy
• If you’re piping some of this on, you can take out some for your frosting and then add more powdered sugar and food coloring for your piping icing