Carrot Cake With Lemon-Zest Cream Cheese Frosting

I love making cakes. I am looking into buying some 6x2 pans to make a smaller layer cake so there is less waste and I can bake them more often. I do not remember where this cake recipe came from. I think it looks similar to one of Deb's on smittenkitchen.com so I will give credit to her.

This is a beautiful, delicious cake so don't let my juvenile attempts at decorative frosting turn you away from making it. The way I do it makes it look a little too home-made but Yong has this thing where he won't eat carrot cake unless it is frosted to look like it has some kind of a carrot on it. Because he is actually a 7 year-old boy inside. I love him.

Grating the carrots is a bit of a pain but the food processor makes short work of it. I think Deb does them on a grater by hand to make a smoother batter. I used about 8 carrots here to get 3 cups.



Ingredients:
Dry:
2 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger

Wet:
2 c. sugar
1 c. canola oil
4 large eggs
3 c. grated carrots (about 8 carrots)
4 rings of pineapple (smashed)

Optional:
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 c. raisins

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Whisk dry ingredients to blend. In a separate large bowl mix oil and sugar well, whisk in eggs one at a time.



2. Combine the dry ingredients with the egg mixture. Add nuts or raisins and add carrots and pineapple.

3. Butter and flour cake tins. Bake for about 40 mins at 350 degrees. Cool in pans for 15 minutes before turning out. Ice when cool.



Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 c. unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese
2 c. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
zest from one lemon

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until just blended with no lumps. Slowly add sugar while beating on low speed.

2. Add vanilla and lemon zest. You can also add pecans or walnuts to the side after you frost.