Quick Carrot Cake

Here is the recipe for carrot cake that I gave to Bonnie W. I first made it when my husband and I had a friend from college visit, and he would still be with us for his birthday. I offered to bake a cake for him and asked what kind he'd like, expecting and hoping that he'd say chocolate, since I had a recipe I liked for chocolate cake. Tim surprised me and said he'd really like a carrot cake. Oh. OK. I searched through all of my cookbooks for the simplest and smallest one because 1) I'm lazy and, 2) three people don't need a big cake hanging around begging to be eaten. As it was, the cake disappeared within 24 hours.

I found this recipe in One-Pot Cakes by Andrew Schloss and Ken Bookman. This is a great book for me because all of the cakes can be made with a pot, a spoon and a pan. “Pot” because if using butter in the recipe, the butter is half-melted in a pot on the stove, then removed from the heat. Everything is mixed with a spoon, which is doable because the fat is liquid. Less heat-sensitive ingredients are added next (sugar, vanilla, spices) then eggs, then dry ingredients. Baking soda and baking powder are added in pinches so you can use your fingers to break them up. A lot of the recipes make single-layer cakes, which I like because I don’t want a huge cake tempting us. All of the frosting recipes make just enough for a single layer. Both kinds of recipes can be doubled, of course, for a bigger cake.

Quick Carrot Cake
It's simple and makes a single layer, but it can be doubled. The cake is dense and flavorful, but not oily. With cream cheese frosting you might want to keep the cake in the fridge.

Ingredients
2 eggs
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups shredded carrots (or 4 carrots, peeled and shredded)
1 cup nut pieces (walnuts or pecans)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until well blended.
3. Mix in the sugar.
4. Add the oil in a steady stream, mixing all the while, until the mixture is thick and smooth.
5. Mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Add the baking soda in pinches, breaking up any lumps with your fingers. Stir in thoroughly.
6. Stir in the flour, shredded carrots, and nut pieces, just until blended.
7. Pour and scrape the batter into the pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on the rack for about 15 minutes more.

Makes 8 servings.

Source: One-Pot Cakes by Andrew Schloss and Ken Bookman

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese or light cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons milk to thin frosting, if needed

Directions
1. Beat the cream cheese and butter with a fork or whisk until smooth. (Could also use an electric mixer.)

2. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth and fluffy.

3. Beat in the vanilla. If the frosting is too thin, refrigerate to thicken.

Makes about 1 ½ cups, or enough to generously frost a single cake layer.

adapted from: One-Pot Cakes by Andrew Schloss and Ken Bookman