The Furthest Thing From a Diet Carrot Cake

I've been through an obsessive carrot cake phase lately which resulted in me trying a different version of the recipe nearly every four days, and yes I ate each entire carrot cake every four days, turns out carrot cake can be quite delicious/addictive as a breakfast food. Anyways, none of the recipes were perfect (perfect being a Brighton Bar & Grill or Paradise Bakery slice) and so I started combining different aspects of each recipe until reaching satisfaction/my jeans didn’t button up anymore. Don’t let the carrot in the title fool you, carrot cake is no healthier for you than a double chocolate cake, but my goodness this version is one hundred percent worth the extra calories and when it comes to desserts – go big or go home!

Ingredients (for the cake)

• 4 cups of peeled, shredded carrots (a Cuisinart and a friend who likes kitchen gadgets is good to have around for this task)
• ½ cup sultanas (golden raisins), roughly chopped
• Wet ingredients: 1 1/3 cup organic canola oil, ½ cup plain yogurt, 3 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup white sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar
• Dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, ½ tsp. all spice, ½ tsp. nutmeg, 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. baking powder

Ingredients (for caramel cream cheese icing)

• 1 stick butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 16 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

With the paddle attachment on your mixer, combine wet ingredients.

In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Toss in shredded carrots and sultanas, thoroughly coating them with the dry ingredients. Mix carrot mixture into the large bowl with the egg and yogurt mixture. Divide batter evenly between two 9 inch buttered and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, turn off oven and let rest inside until cool. [Cupcake Cooking Times: Mini muffin tray – 17 minutes; Medium muffin tray – 21 minutes; Large muffin tray – 27 minutes]

For the icing: melt butter in a saucepan with brown sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture bubbles into a thick syrup. With the paddle attachment on your mixture, beat cream cheese until smooth, add caramel syrup, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Because the butter has been melted, you will need to refrigerate this mixture to achieve an icing consistency.

When the cake/cupcakes are cooled frost and sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts before enjoying.