Carrot Cake Recipe (Yes its diary free too:)

Good Afternoon Ya'll!

I know two blog posts in one day...cupcakes must be flying through the air! But alast no.. I have just finally been able to get my thought together this week (and I baked up all of my orders yesterday) so now I have some time to blog and since my posts have backed up I thought I would you guys 2 in one day as a way to catch up. 

Now I am not a fan of carrot cake..GASP! I know.. but those who know me know I don't really eat much cake these days. After baking and decorating for 3 years now cake doesn't look the same to me any more... I love it don't get me wrong but I just can't eat it unless I am trying out a new recipe. What prompted me to search for a really good from scratch carrot cake recipe is my mother in law. She loves carrot cake so a while back I was on the hunt for a really great recipe that she would enjoy being that its always a nice thing to impress the mother in law (beside she cooks wayyyyy better than I do, so cooking for her was out lol).

 Now this recipe I am going to give out will be one a very few recipes.. as you know.. us bakers they are our trade secrets. So to stay in business we keep them close to the vest, but I don't mind giving one out every now and then to my readers:) This recipe is also great for someone who is on a diary free diet because there is no diary in this recipe at all! Eggs aren't really considered diary so because they aren't made with milk (or the casein protein which alot of people are allergic too). The recipe calls for grated carrots, I cheated and use my food processor which I would recommend for those of you who have one. This recipe makes a great moist carrot cake from scratch  (cause I'm all about the scratch baby). 

Kima's Karrot Kake Recipe

1 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts) those of you who allergic to nuts can leave them out 

2 1/2 cups of finely grated raw carrots 

2 cups of all purpose flour (no cake flour here)

1 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 

1/8 teaspoon of ginger

1/2 of nutmeg 

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups of white granulated sugar 

1 cup of vegetable oil (or you can use canola  or safflower)

2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract (not the fake stuff, the real stuff like Madagascar vanilla)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray two 8 inch round cake pans (or butter and flour) and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.   

Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. 

Peel and finely grate the carrots. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In bowl of electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs until well combined.

Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored.

 Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. 

Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. 

With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts. 

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

Remove from oven and let cool.

 After about 5 minutes flip pans over onto a wire rack or pan flat pan (like a cookie sheet) if you don't have one to finish cooling. 

Level the tops, fill, frost and enjoy!

Here is a picture of a cake I did last week that was made with this recipe and a diary free vanilla buttercream filling. 

 

So that's it folks. I hope you enjoy the recipe:) Next post I will be sharing with you  Neapolitan Rice Krispy  Treats I came across on the web. They are soo cute and will work with any party you are planning. 

Peace & Blessings

Kima