carrot cake

i love carrot cake, just love it, love it, love it. PERIOD. first time i heard about carrot cake was when i watched andy garcia & meg ryan in the movie "when a man loves a woman". my mouth was suddenly dry as the result of imagining the moist grated carrot inside a cake with frosting.. yummm... and my obsession with banana cake suddenly gone :p

but my obsession with this healthy-for-your-eye- cake kind of never fulfilled because ONE, i was busy. TWO, i hated cooking/baking. THREE, my mom's oven was/is not properly working. FOUR, i never never never find carrot cake in jakarta. can you believe it???

sooo, long story short, finally i live in the city where you can find carrot cake in almost every market/deli/cafe/bakery/corner. and i got the chance to make my own carrot cake!! noelle loves it too, maybe because it smells so good, rich in spices and moist, and sweet from the frosting... droool (thank god i still got one chunk in the fridge). just in case someday she wants to bake it on her own, she should make the carrot cake with this Martha Stewart recipe..

ingredients

fort the cake :

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup crushed walnut

for the icing:

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

method

cake :

• preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 42 mini muffin cups with mini cupcake liners; set aside.
• beat sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until well combined.
• in a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. slowly add three-quarters of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture; mix until well combined. add carrots and walnuts to remaining flour mixture; toss to combine. stir into batter until well combined.
• pour batter into the baking tin or if you use muffin cup fill with about 2 teaspoons batter. bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of cupcakes comes out clean, 10 to 12 minutes. transfer cake/cupcakes to wire rack to cool. let cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

for the icing:

• in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
• add maple syrup, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar; continue beating until well combined and smooth.
• spread on top of the cake/cupcakes.

from The Martha Stewart Show, september 2007