I wanted to make a carrot cake for Thanksgiving. It happens to be one of my favorites, because of the cream cheese frosting, and is also a favorite of my husband.
When I found this recipe, I was a little unsure that it would truly taste homemade. But it did. I was able to cut out the time consuming carrot grating and still have an awesome cake. Everyone that ate it swore it was great.
The recipe is from Betty Crocker and can be found here, along with others to try.
**I used a homemade version of the icing.
Ultimate Carrot Cake
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® carrot cake mix
1/2 cup orange juice or water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 teaspoon orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped raisins
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans or 13x9-inch pan and lightly flour, or spray with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, beat cake mix, orange juice, oil, pineapple, orange peel, vanilla and eggs on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in nuts, coconut and raisins. Pour into pans.
2 Bake 8- or 9-inch rounds 30 to 35 minutes, 13x9-inch pan 37 to 43 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around side of pans to loosen cakes; remove rounds from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
Cream Cheese Icing
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
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