Spiced Carrot Cake

I adore carrot cake. There is something unabashedly irreverent about the legitmacy of a vegetable placed in a indulgent spiced cake deluged in whiped creamcheese frosting. It is a perfect contradiction in terms. This is actually a very simple and fast carrot cake. I do not mess about with raisins or pecans, but if you wish you can add a cup of both or none. Since I bake for my office, I usually don't include nuts for fear of allergies. But I believe, in the kitchen especially, you should cook to please those you love and yourself. And by all means, please convince yourself that carrot cake is actually good for you.

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground black pepper (I love this addition)
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

good scraping of nutmeg
½ teaspoon free-flowing table salt

6 carrots, peeled
1 ½ cups sugar-bowl sugar
½ cup brown sugar packed
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups canola oil (nearly any oil will do, except olive)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Vanilla bean seeds, scraped from 1 vanilla pod
1 package of cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened,

1 tablespoon sour cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. In a bowl stir together all the dry ingredients including the spices. Whisk together rather than sift, it is much faster.
3. In a food prep shred the carrots. Set aside the gorgeous orange chaos of carrots.
4. In the processor whip together the sugars and eggs until creamy and bothered. Drizzle in the oil through while the prep is running through the tube.
5. Stir together all of the ingredients, food preped egg mixture, the dry goods, and the carrot shreds.
6. Pour into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 22 mins.
7. In the mean time, whip together using your food prep or standing mixer all of the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting.
8. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.
9. When cooled decorate to please. I just adore those cute miniature fondant carrots. It is as if a small cartoon bunny will jump up to steal them. There is never too much kitch in the kitchen.

Here is to hoping for an early spring.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking.