Best Carrot Cake Recipe. Ever.

So every since my wedding I have been obsessed with carrot cake! It's also now my husbands favorite kind of cake to request for any special occasion. So I found this awesome recipe and I tweaked it a little and now I have the very best carrot cake recipe. Ever. 

Mmm...don't you just want to dig in?

So here it is:

To make one two layered 9 or 10 inch round carrot cake, you will need....

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 3 - 4 cups of coarsely shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup white or red raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (also optional)

 Frosting Ingredients: 

• 32 ounces of softened cream cheese
• 2 sticks of butter
• 5-6 cups of powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

Get the party started by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 or 10" cake pans (for this cake I used 9 inch pans).

Mix together the sugar, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add one egg at a time, mixing until well incorporated. Then add in the dry ingredients. When everything is sufficiently combined, pour in the carrots and nuts (if using). If you are opting to use the raisins, pour a small amount of batter into the bottom of each pan sans raisins, then mix the raisins into the rest of the batter and then pour into the pans. This keeps those pesky raisins from burning at the bottom of the pan (trust me, they will burn and totally ruin the flavor of the best carrot cake. Ever.)

Bake the cakes for 50-60 minutes. The tops of the cakes will kind of puff up, and seem jiggly even at the end, just use a toothpick (or in my case, uncooked strand of spaghetti) to test the center of each and if it comes out dry, it's done! Pull them out and cool them for 10 minutes or so, then turn over and release them from the pans.

Prepare your frosting by whipping together the softened cream cheese and butter. Whip, whip, whip it! Don't be afraid to overdo it, cause you really can't. Then add in the vanilla and the sugar. The amount of sugar you add is really a personal preference. Less sugar results in a less sweet and cheesier tasting frosting, but it's a little softer. More sugar means sweeter and stiffer (which is better for decorating with, at least if you plan to use it right away). Granted this recipe makes buckets of frosting (I like to lay it on thick and have some left over!) so you can definitely half it if you are going for a lighter frosted dessert.

Allow your cake to cook completely before adding the filling, layering and the frosting the outside. If you really want to make it easy on yourself you can even freeze the layers overnight, then frost them the following day. This makes the cake easier to spread the thick frosting onto and no crumbling to deal with!

Color some of the frosting with orange and green food coloring and add the finishing touches, baby carrots!

This cake can be refrigerated and will taste good for at least a week (if it even lasts that long!) It also freezes well for up to a couple months.

Yum, I can't wait to have a slice of the left over cake that's waiting for me in the fridge downstairs.... :)