YUM! This carrot cake is the perfect balance of spice cake and sweet cake. I am not a big fan of a TON of carrots in a cake so I came up with this recipe. It is the perfect cake with a cup of coffee and a good book. The best thing is you start with a yellow cake mix.
Carrot Cake with Buttercream Icing
Yield = 2 – 9 in. Round Cakes
Ingredients:
- 1 package yellow cake mix
- 1 package vanilla instant pudding
- ⅔ cup pulp-free orange juice
- ½ cup of vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ tsp. Ground cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two round cake pans by spraying them with cooking spray and then lightly dusting them with flour. In a mixing bowl, mix the cake mix, pudding, orange juice, oil, eggs, and cinnamon. Once well blended, fold in the carrots (finely chopped or grated), raisins, and chopped pecans. The mixture will be thick. Evenly divide the mixture between the two cake pans. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until the middle of the cake springs back when touched lightly. Do not over bake. Remove from the oven a let cool on racks in the pans for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from the side of the pans with a knife. Remove the cakes and allow them to cool on the racks completely before icing.
For the Icing:
- 1 stick of room temperature butter
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 4 TBS milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix the butter and the sugar together. I mix in 1/2 cup of sugar at a time. Add the milk and the vanilla and mix until smooth. After the cakes have cooled completely, apply the icing to the cakes. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the cake. For another delicious cake try my Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe!
Enjoy!
Maurie Kay
