There are a lot of people who celebrate their birthday’s in August, including my family and the people I work with. I try to bring in a cake or cupcakes for the people I immediately work with to help celebrate their birthdays. But this time, 8 in one month was a lot to take on! So I figured that I could bring in 1 big one for the office to enjoy with the all the birthday people. I love to bake but I am not bakery! Especially with 4 birthdays in a row!
I made a massive carrot cake for the 8 people who have August birthdays. Requested by Kellie (August 8th birthday)
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves 24 (but you can get 36 decent pieces out of it)
2 pound of carrots
3 cups of all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup raisins
2 cups walnuts, finely chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Line and grease 2 11”x8” baking pans.
Peel and grate carrots (fine shred with a food processor is okay but a grater has the best results)
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a very large bowl, beat the eggs until blended. Add the vanilla, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil and beat until well incorporated.
In three batches, add the dry ingredients, mix well.
Fold in the carrots, raisins, and walnuts until they are mixed evenly throughout.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, test for doneness.
Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Let it cool completely on a rack prior to icing.
Cream Cheese Frosting
24 oz (3 8oz packages) cream cheese, softened to room temperature, cut into small pieces
¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into small pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract to the mixture. Slowly add in the confectioner’s sugar. Beat until fully incorporated and smooth.
This recipe can be reduced in half.
The last time I made this recipe I left out the raisins and walnuts (afraidof nut allergies in the office) and it was a lot drier. This cake was very moist but not as easy to work with, especially when icing it!
It was nice that we were able to gather the majority of the office to get together for some cake and signing instead of our teams. We figure that we will now have a birthday cake for the month and it will be done during the staff meetings. hmmm what will I make for September?
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