Easter Egg Carrot Cake~Holiday Recipe Club

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It's time again for Holiday Recipe Club! This is only my second post with the club, and so far, it is really fun!! Each month we are given three ingredients to choose from to make a recipe. We must use at least one of the  holiday related ingredients. Our ingredients this month are spinach, eggs, and carrots. I choose carrots and eggs, and came up with Easter Egg Carrot Egg! I have used this carrot cake many, many times, and it is delicious!

 Easter Egg Carrot Cake

{adapted from The Cake Doctor, by Anne Byrn}

1 box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Cake Mix

1 (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

2/3 cup Orange Juice

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

4 Eggs

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

2 medium Carrots, shredded

1/2 cup Golden Raisins

Mix all of your ingredients, except for the raisins and carrots,

 together in your mixing bowl.Mix for 1 minute, then scrape 

bowl. Mix for 2 minutes more.

Add raisins and shredded carrots. Mix in with spatula.

Pour batter into greased and floured egg shaped pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Take a toothpick around the edges on the cake, and then

let cool for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pan.

 Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened Cream Cheese

1 stick softened butter

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 pounds Confectioners Sugar

Cream together the Cream  Cheese, butter, and vanilla.

Add sugar and beat until well blended.

Use a Wilton tip # 21 to cover the egg cake in little stars.

Cover the entire cake with the stars. 

Make some orange frosting with Wilton Orange.

Using a Wilton tip #5 squiggle a small carrot on the top of the cake.

Tint a small amount of frosting Americolor Forest Green.

Using a Wilton tip #2, frost some green on to the top of your carrot.

Now you have an individual dessert for each person 

for your holiday dinner.

Happy Easter!!

 

Improv Challenge~Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies!

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Today is the day for the Improv Cooking Challenge!   This is such a fun challenge, I just love participating! This month our ingredients are carrots and ginger. I immediately thought of carrot cake, but I was looking for something a little smaller, like cookies. This got my brain thinking about cookies, and then whoopie pies, the ultimate cookie!

Carrot Cake Whoppie Pies

(adapted from Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley)

2 cups Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

8 tablespoons Butter, softened

1/2 cup packed Light Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 cup Grated Carrots

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder,

cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together. 

Set aside.

In the bowl that you can use a mixer with, 

cream together the butter and both sugars. 

Cream on medium for  4-5 minutes

until light and fluffy. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.

Mix in vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

Add carrots.

Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

While the batter is chilling, make the cream cheese filling.

This is a recipe I have used for a very long time. I love it!

Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces Cream Cheese

5 tablespoons Butter, softened

2 teaspoon Vanilla

2 cups Confectioners Sugar

Cream the cream cheese and butter together.

Add vanilla.

Add sugar 1 cup at a time. You might need more

if you want thicker filling.

Put filling in a pastry bag with a Wilton #12 tip.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use a small cookie scoop, and place circle of dough

on your baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes.

Let cool!

Pipe the filling onto the bottom of 1 cookie,.....

and put the other cookie on top.

Delicious!

Thanks for stopping by The Freshman Cook!

Home Style Carrot Cake

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When I first moved to Las Vegas I discovered Carrot Cake. This is something I had never had before, even though it had been around for a while. Every coffee shop and buffet had carrot cake on the menu, and that was ok with me. I loved it! Well the carrot cake craze is gone, but I still love it. Here's my version of a nothing fancy, very Home Style Carrot Cake.

Home Style Carrot Cake

(adapted from Cake Mix Doctor)

1 box Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix

1 box (3.4 oz) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

2/3 cup Fresh Orange Juice

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

4 Large Eggs

2 teaspoons Cinnamon

1 1/2 cups grated Carrots

1 cup Golden Raisins

Pan Spray 

Flour

Cream Cheese Icing

4 0z. Cream Cheese

4 tablespoons softened Butter

2 cups Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Pour box of mix in to bowl.

Add the pudding mix, orange juice, oil and eggs.

Add cinnamon.

Mix on low for 1 minute.

 Scrape the sides, and then increase the speed to 

medium and beat for 2 minutes.

 While your mix is mixing, peel about 4-5 carrots.

Cut the ends off of the carrots.

Put the carrots through the food processor 

to shred.

                                                              If you do not have a food 

processor available to you, use a cheese grater

to shred your carrots.

Mix the carrots into the cake mix.

Mix the raisins into the mix.

Take the cake pan and place it on a piece of parchment.

Trace the base of the pan with a marker on to the 

parchment. Cut the circle out. Check the size by placing the

parchment circle in the bottom of the pan. Make sure it

fits on the bottom with no wrinkles. If it does not fit

adjust by trimming it.

Spray the pan with pan spray.

Flour the pan. Adding 3 tablespoons of flour to the pan.

Spin the flour around the pan covering the entire pan, 

allowing the flour to adhere to the spray. Tap the pan

on the parchment to remove excess flour.

Fill with  cake batter. I used an 8" pan. You will

have some left over to make cupcakes or another cake.

Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Put cream cheese and butter in a bowl.

Add powdered sugar a little at a time, blending on low

until the sugar is incorporated.

Mix all together. Set aside.

 

Remove cake from oven.

Take a knife around the edge of the pan. 

Let sit and cool for 15 minutes. Remove the pan.

After removing the cake from the pan, make sure the cake 

is completely cooled. Cut the cake in half, and then level

the top by slicing off the top to make it even.

Begin to frost your cake. Pile some icing on the top.

Start to spread with a knife.

Spread the icing onto the sides and hold your 

knife at an angle to get the smoothest finish you can. 

This is a home style cake. It should look nice, but 

it should not look perfect.

Enjoy!

Thanks for joining me for this weeks walk down memory lane:

My Las Vegas Favorites.

It was a lot of fun remaking some of the food that 

has great memories for me.

I hope you join me tomorrow 

for next weeks menu!

Thanks!