Carrot Cake

I apologize to those of you who check out my blog regularly, I have not been on top of my game these last few weeks. Time seems to be rushing past me; where it is going I have no idea.

As you can tell from my blog, I love to bake. I consider myself quite good at it and generally don't shy away from a challenge. I do, however, have a baking nemesis. I seem to be at constant odds with, are you ready...here it comes... carrot cake. It's a shocker, I know. It is a simple cake with reliable ingredients that does not require any special equipment, or delicate processes. Why carrot cake and I cannot make amends remains a mystery. This problem is terribly unfortunate because this happens to be my husband's favorite cake.

So, I had to give it a go, just one more time.

It just so happens that I have been collecting carrot cake recipes, because it is my husband's favorite, and stuffing them into the back of my recipe book; I have been doing this so long that I had amassed quite the collection, as I discovered recently. I believe that I have been collecting them to find the most basic one, so that the margin of error on my part could be reduced as much as possible.

You'll be thrilled to hear that I have found a winner. I don't know where it came from, if I got it from you let me know and I'll give credit where it is due. This cake is had wonderful flavor, I got a thumbs up from two carrot cake connoisseurs. The texture and crumb were what you would hope for from a cake filled with carrots and the moisture was all a cake maker could ever hope for...moist and delicious!

It is simple and even I did not mess it up!

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 cups evaporated cane sugar
1 tsp molasses
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
1/4 cup orange juice (fresh is better)
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot (2-3 large carrots)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Lightly grease and flour your baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar, molasses and eggs until smooth.

Beat in applesauce, orange juice, orange extract, vanilla extract, spices and salt.

When combined, sift in the flour and baking soda and gently stir it into the batter until no streaks remain.

Fold in shredded carrot, then scrape into prepared pan.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 lb. Powdered Sugar

Cream together the cream cheese and butter.

Mix in the lemon juice and salt until combined.

Slowly incorporate the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy and spreadable.

Depending on your location and humidity level you may need to add a teaspoon or two of water to full incorporate the sugar; don't add the extra liquid unless completely necessary.

Frost away!