Mondays We Cook: Carrot Cake

August 11, 2014

Hey guys! Long time, no see! I've really missed blogging during my trip to Switzerland. Now I'm back and I can't wait to show you the pictures from the trip. I've visited beautiful places and guess what! I even got to meet my favorite blogger, Kristina Bazan of Kayture in Zurich. Stay tuned because I'll be posting the whole story soon :)


If that wasn't enough news....A few weeks ago I was approached by the L.A.-based website CgC Daily and they asked me to be one of their contributors. Last week, they posted my first article which you can read here. It's so exciting to see how the blog is growing little by little.


Without further ado, let's talk about today's recipe. Carrot cake. If you haven't tried it yet, do me a favor: don't understimate it because the main ingredient is a vegetable. That's not fair. This cake is delicious, trust me. It's like a giant cupcake and the best part is the cream cheese frosting. Yum!
This is what you'll need:
Ingredients:
100 gr. of walnuts
340 gr. of raw carrots finely grated
260 gr. of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
300 gr. of white sugar
240 ml. of flavorless oil
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

Cream cheese frosting
Ingredients:
57gr. of unsalted butter
227 gr. of cream cheese
230 go. of confectioners sugar
4 gr. of pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest

Carrot Cake: Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Toast the walnuts until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool. Peel and finely grate the carrots.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon.

In bowl beat the eggs until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored. Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes invert the cakes onto the wire rack, remove the pans and parchment paper, and then cool completely before frosting. 

To assemble: place one cake layer onto your serving plate. Spread with about half the frosting. Gently place the other cake onto the frosting and spread the rest of the frosting over the top of the cake. If desired, garnish with toasted nuts on the top of the cake. 

Serves 10 - 12.

Frosting: beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, just until blended. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract, and lemon zest.  

As you can see in the picture, mine has only one layer. If you want to make a small one too, you only have to divide the quatities by two.


Have a great week and thanks for reading.
Cristina xo

Adapted from Joy of Baking