We’re taking a short break from the vegan challenge to make up for an unfulfilled food wish. A friend of mine sent in a request to my tumblr inbox using Yahoo!mail

and apparently I didn’t get or missed the notification and so did not read it until I scrolled down a bit a few days ago. After the belated apology, I’m betting that I’m already too late in replying with this but for the sake of my conscience, I decided to do it anyway. So Bharathi, I’m so sorry! I hope this could be of some use to you in any way.

Carrot Cake (recipe from Joy of Baking):

[4 large eggs + 1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar + 1 cup vegetable or canola oil + 2 teaspoon vanilla extract + 2 cups flour + + 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 teaspoon salt + 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots ] *Not in this cake: 1 cup walnuts.

Prep work:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

Butter or spray two - 9 x 2 inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper ( I actually just lightly flour my cake pan and line the bottom and the cake came out alright).

Making the cake:

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon powder. The whisking will aerate the mixture without you having to sift the flour. Pretty nifty.

Crack the eggs into another bowl and, using an electric or a handheld mixer, beat the eggs until frothy and pale.

Gradually add the sugar into the eggs until the mixture turns pale and thick.

Add the oil in a steady stream and beat until the oil emulsifies into the mixture.

Add in the flour and beat just until incorporated. Do not over beat or your cake will collapse (it will sink in the middle part).

Fold in the grated carrots into the mixture using a large spatula. Do not over mix. If you’re unfamiliar with the folding technique, then check out the video :)

Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake in the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5-10 minutes turn the cake upside down, remove the pans and parchment paper.

Cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting (for this cake):

[ 8 ounces cream cheese + 3 tablespoons carrot juice + 1 1/2 cup icing sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ]

**For the original frosting recipe, you can click the link and follow the one written there. I used a slightly different one, just because I didn’t have butter on hand (the horror!)

In a bowl, using an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed, just until blended with no lumps.

Gradually add the carrot juice, vanilla extract and icing sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth.  

Assembly:

Carrot cake + Frosting + OPTIONAL:Garnish (Roasted nuts or Toasted Coconuts)

Place one cake layer onto your serving plate. Spread with about half the frosting. 

Gently place the other cake onto the frosting and spread the rest of the frosting over the top, and if you have leftover, over the rest of the cake.

I garnished my cake with some toasted coconuts on the sides. Toasted nuts thrown over the top is good too.

 Enjoy!