Carrot Cake

Have you ever wondered what kind of person buys those huge bags filled with carrots at Sam’s Club?  I’m that person.  I get at least one bag every 2 weeks or so, peel them, cut them and store them in a big container of water* in the fridge.  That way, if we need a healthy snack we have cut up veggies ready to eat.  Occasionally I’ll buy a bag before we munch through the supply we already have so I add them to soups, stews, just about anything and everything I can.  

Last weekend, faced with two pounds of carrots I thought I’d bake up a carrot cake for The Husband as a special treat as well as filling the box to keep healthy treats on hand.  I set about peeling said 2 pounds of carrots into the kitchen sink then cutting them into sticks.  As I turned the water on and starting shoving carrot peels down the drain I had the random thought, This is going to backfire on me someday. Sure enough, I flipped the switch on the garbage disposal and heard the whole thing come to a grinding halt.  Whoops.  I gave it a few more tries to no avail but by then, the sink started clogging up.

This is less a sad tale about the silly things I do, and more of a tale of what a wonderful dude I’m married to.  I hollered to him that I’d yet again done something stupid and the sink was clogged with the peels of two pounds of carrots.  He was hungry and dinner was ready so he requested we eat before fixing the sink.  I served dinner and vibrated about the mess that was my kitchen and afterwards he removed everything from under my sink.  Watching him unload my cleaning supplies is incredibly hard to watch.  He pulled out the third bottle of Mr. Clean and gave me a stern look but never mentioned anything about obsessive compulsive behavior.  He removed the U-Joint to find a thousand pieces of carrots crammed into the pipes but he didn’t complain… just laughed lightly.

Of course, I took the time to remind him that if he were deployed I would have taken the U-Joint apart and fixed it myself, but since there was a man in the house I didn’t want him to feel left out and let him do the man-work.  Right.  He was rewarded with what he refers to as The Best Carrot Cake EVER, after, of course, the kitchen was bleached to within an inch of its life.

I’m convinced the great love for carrot cake is not of the cake itself, but the cream cheese frosting that usually adorns it.  When making cakes and quick breads that require fruits and vegetables, I generally double the amount said vegetable/fruit.  This recipe is the standard recipe, using twice as much carrots.

**not gluten free**

Carrot Cake

4 1/2 c freshly grated carrots
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 t allspice
1 t freshly grated nutmeg
4 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
2 t vanilla
1/2 c crushed pineapple (from a can)
1 c toasted coconut

Frosting:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
2 t vanilla
1 lb powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Butter a 9″x13″ pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine carrots, oil, eggs and sugar and vanilla, making sure to break up the eggs.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg.  Pour into the carrot mixture, mix well.  Fold in the pineapple and coconut, then transfer to the pan.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes depending on the amount of carrots used.  Cool completely.

For frosting, combine cream cheese and vanilla until light and fluffy, gradually beat in powdered sugar until a smooth consistency is reached.  Immediately ice the cooled cake.

Chill then serve.  Store in the refrigerator.

*I store carrots and celery, ready to eat in large containers in the fridge.  The water helps the vegetables to remain crisp.