HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!! What a great way to say I Love You by dropping off some wonderful homemade cupcakes to friends or family.
A dear friend had requested either red velvet or carrot cake cupcakes when she found out that I was baking her something. Because I had a whole bag of carrots in the fridge, I thought to myself, “self, should you make a kale-carrot smoothie or carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting?” and guess what won out? Because I had not made a homemade carrot cake in a long time, I began to go through some old cookbooks and decided to try this recipe which was in an old cookbook I have had since the 70’s. They were passed down to me by my aunt Gladys. The actual print date of the cookbook is 1961. I (I know you are never suppose to begin a sentence with “I” but because it is Valentines, please be kind to forgive me) have to tell you that besides the recipe that I have made before with a can of crushed pineapple in the carrot cake, this one is the best one I have found. It is super moist and light and the flavor is wonderful. Of course, all the cream cheese frosting certainly didn’t hurt the flavor either. So grab a bag of carrots from the grocery store and get the food processor out. These are just delicious and will be a perfect ending to our night at home tonight. Yes, that’s right, Mr. Cupid and I will be at home tonight. We have a dinner planned of Olive Tapenade, Bruchetta with Garlic Bread, Salami and cheese wraps. We plan to celebrate tomorrow night but because my Valentine is now working, I have the feeling he will be so thankful to stay home tonight and then celebrate tomorrow night. Besides, I have to find out what happens in the next episode of A Place to Call Home …..
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
1 teas vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teas cinnamon
1 heaping teas pumpkin pie spice
2 teas baking soda
2 teas baking powder
1 cup crushed pecans or walnuts (I didn’t put them in the cake, but sprinkled them over the frosting this time
3 cups grated carrots
Directions
Mix oil and sugar; beat well. Add beaten eggs. Sift all dry ingredients 2 -3 times. If you add the nuts to the batter, add them to the flour mixture. Mix dry ingredients with the sugar mixture. Add carrots 1 cup at a time and mix in well after each addition. Either bake as cupcakes or layer cakes or one 9×13″ cake. Bake until cake feels firm to the touch but still looks shiny on top. Cool and Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting*
*Frosting
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teas vanilla
Mix all ingredients together until no lumps remain in mixture. I added a little pineapple juice to the frosting and blended it in to give it extra flavor. Sprinkled the crushed pecans over the top.
Chocolate Castles as wel 