This cake is perfect for Easter or all through the spring and summer!
Ingredients
Cake:
Crisco for greasing the pan
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 cups sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¾ cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups finely shredded carrots, packed down
½ cup raisins
Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 cups powdered sugar
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese softened
1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Orange food coloring
Green food coloring
Decorating bags and tips (optional)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 2 nine-inch cake pans with Crisco. Cake pans with higher sides work best as this makes a lot of batter. If you have cake pans with shorter sides you could always use 4 pans instead of 2.
Measure out your raisins and then fill up your measuring cup with water to just past the raisins. This will get them nice and soft if they were not before. If they are already soft you can skip this step. Just let them hang out while you assemble the rest of your cake.
Grate up your carrots. I use the fine shredder on my cheese grater. I you have a food processor with a fine grater you can use that too.
In your mixer with the whisk attachment whisk together your sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract until thick. Then add in your flour, baking powder, and cinnamon and mix gently.
With your paddle attachment add in your raisins (don't forget to drain them) and grated carrots and mix until well combined.
Pour into your prepared pans and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes our clean. If using 4 cake pans you will want to adjust the cooking time down and then keep checking them.
When the cakes are done leave to cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn onto a cooling rack.
Allow the cakes to completely cool before frosting.
While you are waiting prepare your frosting. In the bowl of your electric mixer with the whisk attachment cream your cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then slowly add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and whisk until it is smooth and creamy.
When your cake is cooled take a knife and slice each cake half in half again so you will now have 4 layers of cake.
Take one layer and put it on your cake stand and then spread some frosting evenly all over the top. Repeat with the next 4 layers. I like to leave the sides unfrosted on this cake and it makes it nice and easy. I just kind of smooth out any goopy layers of frosting on the outside with my spatula when I am done. It kind of gives it a rustic look and it also shows the beauty of the 4 layers.
After frosting all 4 layers your should still have frosting left. Divide that out into two bowls adding a little more frosting into one of the bowls. The bowl with more frosting add your orange food coloring and the other bowl add your green food coloring.
With your decorating bags and tips pipe on the carrots all around the cake with the orange. Make little squiggles back and forth. Start small and then get wider to get your carrot look. Then pipe on the carrot stems with the green.
Store in the refrigerator until your are ready to serve.
Recipe by A Fireman's Wife at https://afiremanswife.com/2018/04/04/carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/