{"id":59,"date":"2009-03-12T02:59:43","date_gmt":"2009-03-12T02:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crankymouse.com\/?p=59"},"modified":"2009-06-20T17:44:09","modified_gmt":"2009-06-20T22:44:09","slug":"chunky-chewy-carrot-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/2009\/03\/12\/chunky-chewy-carrot-cake\/","title":{"rendered":"Chunky, Chewy Carrot Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"carrot-cake\"<\/a>
\n
It’s not really chunky. It just has chunks in it. Lovely chunks of pineapple, walnuts and raisins. All necessary to make a good carrot cake. (Unless you are opposed to such things.)
\n
Ole loves carrot cake; however, he doesn’t want just any carrot cake. He wants to really chew the pineapple, crunch the walnuts. So, I make him that carrot cake. The result is a moist carrot cake with heavenly cream cheese frosting. Yes, heavenly.<\/p>\n

These are the things you need. Plus that computer over there at the top left. The computer is very, very important. Yes, very.
\n\"ingredientsccake\"<\/a>
\n
Line your pan with parchment first. This will avoid any sticking caused by very moist cake. Sticking is no good. Trace the bottom of the pan onto the parchment and cut out the circles and place them in your greasy pan. THEN you can grease and flour right on top of that.
\n\"linepan\"<\/a>
\n
I like to grate my own carrots, but you can also buy pre-grated carrots near the bagged salads. They will be a thicker grate, though, and not as juicy as grating your own.
\n\"carrotgrate\"<\/a>
\n
A lot of stuff goes into that mixer, but it doesn’t take long.
\n\"carrotcakemixer\"<\/a>
\n
And then you have this.
\n\"ccakebatter\"<\/a>
\n
Pour them into your lined cake pans.
\n\"ccakepour\"<\/a>
\n
You know, I’m willing to bet I could use 9″ cake pans for this. Maybe I’ll try it, or if you try it, let me know how it goes. These are 8″ pans.
\n\"ccakeinpan\"<\/a>
\n
This is post-baking, the next day at my mom’s house in HER tiny blue kitchen (as opposed to my green one). I slice the tops off so the cake is level with the top of the pan. This makes stacking them together incredibly easy.
\n\"cuttopoff\"<\/a>
\n
Then just plop it down on the pan and peel the parchment off to get a flat base for your next layer.
\n\"ccakepan\"<\/a>
\n
Give it a nice layer of frosting and plop the next layer right on top, again, peeling off the parchment from the bottom. Then finish frosting the entire cake.
\n\"frostccake\"<\/a>
\n
You could serve it as is, top it with some crushed pineapple, sprinkle nuts, whatever. We generally cover the sides in sliced almonds and mix some of the frosting with food coloring to get the carrots on top. Because I was at my mom’s house, you will see a plastic bag being substituted for a pastry bag to make the carrots. It works just fine. Try to make sure you cut off the smallest possible amount on the corner to give you more control.
\n\"finaltouches\"<\/a>
\n\"ccakecut\"<\/a>
\n
But WAIT<\/strong>! You can’t just throw the tops away. I cut them into slices and layer them with some extra frosting in whatever container I have and stick them in the fridge.
\n\"snacks\"<\/a>
\n
Because this is my favorite part of the carrot cake.
\n\"cakebites\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p>\n

\n

Chunky Carrot Cake<\/strong><\/font> <\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong>
\n2 cups granulated sugar
\n1 \u00bc cups vegetable oil
\n3 large eggs, at room temperature
\n1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
\n2 \u00be cups all-purpose flour, reserving one spoonful off to the side
\n2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
\n\u00bc teaspoon nutmeg
\n2 teaspoons baking soda
\n1 \u00bd teaspoons salt
\n1 cup raisins
\n1 cup chopped walnuts
\n1 pound carrots, grated (1 16-ounce package baby cut carrots or approximately 8 medium carrots)
\n\u00bd cup crushed pineapple
\n\u00bd cup diced fresh pineapple (can substitute canned if necessary)<\/p>\n

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.<\/p>\n

Spray two 8-inch, round cake pans with cooking spray. Cut parchment paper circles out (by using the bottoms as stencils), then butter and flour the pans.<\/p>\n

Beat the sugar, oil, and eggs in mixer until it is a light yellow. Mix in vanilla. In another bowl, sift together flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients slowly to the bowl until combined.<\/p>\n

Toss the raisins and walnuts with the reserved flour. Fold raisins and nuts with the carrots and pineapple. Add mixture to the batter and mix well.<\/p>\n

Divide the batter equally between the pans. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack.
\n

\nCream Cheese Frosting<\/strong><\/p>\n

12 ounces (1 \u00bd packages) cream cheese
\n2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
\n1 \u00bd teaspoons pure vanilla extract
\n4 to 5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted<\/p>\n

Mix the cream cheese and butter together just until combined. Add vanilla and mix. Add confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. Reserve \u00bd cup frosting for orange\/green food coloring for decorating, if desired.<\/p>\n

Place first layer with the bottom up on a flat plate. Spread the top (or the bottom that’s facing up) with frosting. Carefully cut rounded top off second layer using a layer cake cutter or a bread knife. Place the second layer on top, cut side down, and spread the frosting over the entire cake. Decorate with slivered almonds by pressing up sides. If you feel creative, you can pipe little carrots on top of the cake with colored frosting. Otherwise, just sprinkle a few more almonds on top.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not really chunky. It just has chunks in it. Lovely chunks of pineapple, walnuts and raisins. All necessary to make a good carrot cake. (Unless you are opposed to such things.) Ole loves carrot cake; however, he doesn’t want just any carrot cake. He wants to really chew the pineapple, crunch the walnuts. So, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23,10],"tags":[25,24,26,27,707],"class_list":{"0":"post-59","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-desserts","7":"category-featured","8":"category-recipes","9":"tag-cake","10":"tag-carrots","11":"tag-dessert","12":"tag-frosting","13":"tag-recipes","14":"entry","15":"has-post-thumbnail"},"mv":{"thumbnail_id":null,"thumbnail_uri":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":58,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crankymouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}