Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Our friend Mark loves carrot cake. His 60th birthday is tomorrow, so we threw him a surprise birthday party last night. It was a huge success. His daughter even drove from Tennessee to Michigan to surprise him. 

I had the pleasure of baking the cake for the party, so of course, I made carrot cake. And you can't have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting. The cake was a big hit, and it was nice to see people other than my close friends and family enjoying one of my recipes.

What You Will Need:
Grater
Cake Pan(s) (I used three 8 inch rounds, but you could also use a 9x13.)
Cooling Rack(s)
KitchenAid Mixer
Offset Spatula

Ingredients:
For Cake
3 cups Grated Carrots (8-10 Large Carrots)
1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups Soy Flour
1 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1 cup Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk, hot
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 cup Pecan Pieces

For Frosting
2 cups Powdered Sugar
8 ounces Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
For Cake
1. Grate carrots. Set aside. (I used a cheese grater to grate my carrots. It works great.)

2. Grease and flour cake pan(s).

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together soy flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthum gum, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

4. In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat milk on high in microwave. Heat for 30 seconds at a time and stir. Add vinegar and set aside.

5. In bowl of KitchenAid Mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

6. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.

7. Add vanilla.

8. Preheat oven to 350° F.

9. Add half of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk mixture, then the remaining dry ingredients and milk mixture. Mix well.

10. Remove KitchenAid mixing bowl from the machine. Add carrots and mix by hand.

11. Add pecans and mix by hand.

12. Pour batter into cake pan(s). Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. (Time will vary for 9x13 pan.)

13. Remove from oven. Cool in pan(s) for 10 minutes. Then cool completely on cooling racks.

For Frosting
1. In bowl of KitchenAid Mixer, mix together all ingredients on medium until smooth. 

Frost your cake, and share it!

"You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." ~C.S. Lewis

Sheryl