One of the highlights of the VFSS’s 64th Anniversary Celebration on June 21 was the delicious carrot cake donated by VFSS member, singer, songwriter, and baker extraordinaire, Linda Chobotuck, who wrote us to say:
At the anniversary I had one request for the lyrics to the song I sang, but three requests for the carrot cake recipe, so you can see where people’s heads were really at. Enclosed, here is the cake.
Cheers,
Linda C.
CARROT CAKE
350° oven for 55 – 60 minutes
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups finely grated carrots
(About 5 largish carrots)
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
2 3/4 cups flour
2 ½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts)
1 recipe of cream cheese frosting
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9″ x 13″ glass cake pan. (Or if you are going to turn the cake out on a platter, line the pan with parchment paper)
Grate the carrots. Use some sort of food processor for this. Life is too short to fart around with a hand grater for these many carrots. You don’t need to peel them, but trim the ends off.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until light (several minutes). Beat in oil, then carrots and drained crushed pineapple.
Add dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add chopped nuts.
Pour and scrape the batter into the pan.
Bake in a moderate oven, 55 to 60 minutes until the top springs back when lightly pressed with fingertips.
If you’re going to take the cake out of the pan, let it sit for 10 min. then flip it over before you try.
Let cake cool completely, then frost with cream cheese icing.
This is a large cake, but you don’t usually have trouble getting rid of leftovers.
Cream cheese frosting:
1 8 oz package of cream cheese at room temperature
2 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
Cream this together in a largish round bottomed bowl, then start creaming in icing sugar until it looks like icing and you have enough of it, probably about 2 cups of icing sugar. If it gets too stiff, cream in a tablespoon or two of evaporated milk.