Cam Vs FooD Dessert – To Die For Carrot Cake

I DONT WANT YOU TO GO THINKING THAT I’M SOME KINDA SISSY BECAUSE I’M POSTING CAKE RECIPES. I’LL TELL YOU THIS. IVE SEEN A GUY GET HIS ASS KICKED BY A BAKER.. IF THAT CHANGES YOUR THOUGHTS ON SWEET PEOPLE AND CAKES AND WHAT NOT LOL. BUT HEY. SPEN MORE TIME GETTING TO KNOW YOUR SELF. THE EASIEST WAY IS FINDING OUT WHAT YOU LIKE. AND HOW YOU LIKE IT. SO INSTEAD OF SPENDING ALL OF THAT DOE CHEESE ON KICKIN IT. CHILL IN THE CRIB AND EMBARK ON A NEW CHALLENGE. BAKING LOL !! ENJOY !!!

In the interest of full disclosure, I ALWAYS double this recipe.  We love our cream cheese frosting and although I never use it all, it’s amazing on top of graham crackers.  That’s how my Nana would serve it to us for snacks ;)

Invert the cake onto a cake plate or stand.

Apply a generous dollop of frosting and spread…

Gently place the second cake on top…

and continue frosting.

Sometimes if the cake is crumbly, I’ll do a crumb coat.  If I’m in a hurry or don’t think it’s going to be an issue, I’ll skip this step.

You can decorate the cake however you want {of course!} and I do it differently every time.  I left out the nuts in this recipe and opted to decorate with them instead.  I chopped up some pecans…

…and then inverted a bowl onto the cake.  I spread the pecans around the bowl…

and ended up with a nice clean circle on the center of the cake.

I could have left it like this but my family loves coconut so I filled in the center with shredded coconut.  Turned out really pretty!

Now all we needed was some candles…

And a birthday girl to blow them out…

What a cake!!

I’d love for you to give this recipe a try – it really will blow your mind!  I like to use light cream cheese frosting and then subbing the applesauce for the oil, well, obviously you can now have two pieces of cake ;)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c unsweetened applesauce (or oil, this is what my Nana used)
• 2 c sugar
• 3 eggs

• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 c grated carrots
• 1 c coconut
• 1 c chopped nuts (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup Dole crushed pineapple (not drained!) {use the pineapple in JUICE not syrup}

• 1/2 c butter (softened)
• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lb powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine #1 ingredients. Add #2 ingredients. Stir in #3 ingredients.
3. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 or two 8 or 9-inch pans.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely!

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until nice and smooth. In the interest of full disclosure, I ALWAYS double this recipe. We love our cream cheese frosting and although I never use it all, it’s amazing on top of graham crackers. That’s how my Nana would serve it to us for snacks ;)
2. Invert the cake onto a cake plate or stand.
3. Apply a generous dollop of frosting and spread…
4. Gently place the second cake on top and continue frosting.
5. Sometimes if the cake is crumbly, I’ll do a crumb coat. If I’m in a hurry or don’t think it’s going to be an issue, I’ll skip this step.
6. This whole article along with photos is courtesy of momontimeout.com