Today is my birthday and my husband, who has never baked a cake on his own, baked me a carrot cake completely from scratch!
When we were in Madera for Thanksgiving, I rummaged through my aunt’s recipe cards and found a few more of my mom’s recipes that I didn’t have. One of the recipes was for a carrot cake that I remember eating when I was young. I love carrot cake so I was thrilled to have a new (old) recipe to try!
When Justin surprised me by asking what kind of cake I wanted today, I first requested a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, a classic combination that I’ve always loved. But at the last minute, I remembered my newly acquired carrot cake recipe and asked if he would be willing to give that a try instead.
I have to say that I’m pretty impressed. Not only did he find all the ingredients on his own, he did absolutely everything without my help. My only assigned tasks were carrot grating and pan greasing. My husband normally does nothing in the kitchen besides making the occasional sandwich, so this new baking development is a rather nice surprise!
I have had a great birthday! We went out to lunch and then I spent the afternoon shopping with birthday money and gift certificates. I’ve been receiving birthday cards, phone calls, e-mails, text messages, as well as facebook and twitter greetings all day long. Birthdays are so much fun in this digital age! Thanks, everyone!
In addition to my birthday, today is the last day of November and therefore this is my last post for NaBloPoMo. I shared a recipe with you every day this month (with the exception of Thanksgiving) and I’m finishing it off by sharing my mom’s carrot cake recipe, complete with cream cheese frosting! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Carrot Cake
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrot (about 4 medium/large carrots)
1 1/2 cups canola oil
3/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake pans.
In a large bowl, sift together first six ingredients. Stir in oil then stir in eggs, one a time. Add carrots and stir until well blended then add nuts. Divide batter between two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake pans and bake in preheated oven, 30-35 minutes for the 8-inch pans or 35-45 minutes for the 9-inch pans. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for ten minutes, then remove cakes from pans and let cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Edit 12/01/08: We decided that the cream cheese frosting from my mom’s recipe was way too sweet so I’ve removed it and am sharing another cream cheese frosting recipe that allows more of the cream cheese flavor to come through. Hope you enjoy it!
2 8-oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
With an electric mixer, cream together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and blend until well combined. Blend in vanilla extract. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting is at room temp, beat with mixer til smooth).
Very cool!
Well, two things. Hope you had a happy birthday. And…congratulations on completion of NaBloPoMo! You must feel a big relief! A recipe a day is some serious business…but you did it!!
10:12 pm Nov 30th, 2008Wow, I am very impressed by Justin’s baking! That has to be a wonderful birthday present, a husband baking a cake for his wife! (now have Justin talk to Jason — my birthday is in a week!) haha.
10:13 pm Nov 30th, 2008oh, one more thing…where are the pictures of Justin actually baking the cake? ;o)
10:14 pm Nov 30th, 2008Happy Birthday! That’s very cool that he went into the kitchen & made you something!
10:17 pm Nov 30th, 2008What a beautiful thing he did for you, and the cake is scrumptious! I’m so jealous cause I want a piece!!!!!
10:26 pm Nov 30th, 2008Happy Birthday! Glad to hear you had a nice day and that you had a wonderful cake. That is terrific!
10:36 pm Nov 30th, 2008Congrats on making it all the way through Nablopomo, and Happy Birthday! The cake looks wonderful!
10:39 pm Nov 30th, 2008Happy Birthday! Your husband did a lovely job on the cake, all by himself even.
11:25 pm Nov 30th, 2008Happy Birthday!
12:09 am Dec 1st, 2008I’ve been craving this! It’s like you read my mind
I was trying to find a recipe that had pineapple in it, too. But…I’m gonna give this one a try
Happy Birthday! I have to tell you that I looked forward to what you would post each and every day! Thanks for all the recipes!
1:32 am Dec 1st, 2008wow, gorgeous cake! hope you had a splendid birthday!!
6:45 am Dec 1st, 2008Carrot cake is my favorite.. My grandma always made it when I was very young, and she had a glaze she drizzled on top.. I will have to ask my mom if she has the recipe for the glaze.. Happy Birthday and thanks for all the wonderful recipes all month.
7:07 am Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday, Nicole! Your husband did a wonderful job on your cake. It’s beautiful and I’m sure it was yummy. Congratulations on the Nano event. I did the novel one a few years ago and it was quite something to write every day. I’m still revising that novel…LOL.
8:09 am Dec 1st, 2008Happy birthday! =) Hope you had a great day!
What a lovely surprise from your husband. The cake looks delicious! He did a great job at it. And yay for finishing NaBloPoMo!!
9:43 am Dec 1st, 2008Congrats on completing your NaBloPoMo goal! And, of course, Happy belated birthday!
10:57 am Dec 1st, 2008I adore carrot cake, and so will definitely give this recipe a try — thanks for posting it. And bravo to Justin for pulling this off on your behalf!
Oh, and of course, congrats on completing NaBloPoMo! I’ve enjoyed reading your daily recipes.
11:00 am Dec 1st, 2008Happy belated birthday!!! And thanks for sharing all the recipes with us
11:46 am Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday! What a great hubby to make a cake for you!
1:36 pm Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday Nicole! And congrats on succeeding at NaBloPoMo!!
2:25 pm Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday! I’m showing this post to my husband! When my birthday rolls around, he better step up to the plate!
2:29 pm Dec 1st, 2008Love your blog! Happy belated birthday! Your husband did a fabulous job on this cake!!
2:34 pm Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday. The cake looks so awesome. What a great hubby
4:35 pm Dec 1st, 2008Hugs
Anna
Whoa! Nice job there, Justin! Happy belated, Nicole
4:39 pm Dec 1st, 2008Have a Happy Birthday Nicole! With one day of difference….;)
4:54 pm Dec 1st, 2008Scrumptious cake to try.. hey Nicole you’re making drool with every cake you do!
That carrot birthday cake looks amazing. And it is even sweeter knowing your husband baked it just for you. Happy Birthday, Nicole! May your year be filled with love and all good things.
7:16 pm Dec 1st, 2008Happy Birthday!
I really should try to make carrot cake one day.
8:40 pm Dec 1st, 2008Happy belated birthday! What a lovely cake - and even better that he made it for you!
9:05 pm Dec 1st, 2008I absolutely love carrot cake.
10:30 pm Dec 1st, 2008oooh, i love carrot cake but haven’t made one in ages! i guess it’s time i remedy that. congrats on having a husband who would make you such a lovely cake and happy birthday!!
10:54 am Dec 2nd, 2008I’m so impressed! Beautiful job Justin!
12:05 pm Dec 2nd, 2008Hope you had a great birthday! That cake looks amazing. Awesome job.
12:07 pm Dec 2nd, 2008Happy belated birthday! The carrot cake looks amazing. I just recently made a new carrot cake recipe with cardamom and mascarpone frosting, but definitely could use a new recipe for my next go.
12:58 pm Dec 2nd, 2008I ran this through my Biggly diet software and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
As a house-hubby and designated calorie-watcher for the whole family I’m always on the lookout for tasty treats that won’t bust the cal bank and preferably with some actual nutrition in them. Keep the portions small enough (and go lightly with the cream cheese) and it’s not too bad at all. OK I’m out of excuses and will try it this weekend
It certainly looks tasty - and well done on your pics by the way. The recipes are great (though most beyond my calorie limits) but you really bring them to life with some quality photography too. Do you do your own pics?
Alan
6:50 pm Dec 2nd, 2008A very beautiful tall cake! It looks divine!
10:52 pm Dec 2nd, 2008HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And that looks amazing!! Truly truly that I even had to leave you a comment saying that! I’m goign to have to make it soon =D
5:06 pm Dec 4th, 2008Happy Belated Birthday and KUDOS to your hubby for making you not just a cake, but a carrot cake! And everything tastes better with cream cheese frosting!
Congrats to you also on completing NaBloPoMo! That’s amazing.
I feel the need to bake a cake coming on….
amy
12:05 pm Dec 5th, 2008Well I must admit the cream cheese frosting thing is delicious but I’m glad I reduced the amount. Hey, I’m a bodybuilder, there’s limits to what I can eat
Overall it went down very well with the family, thanks!
Alan
3:35 am Dec 7th, 2008Your extreme closeups are killing me. Having a bad craving for anything cake all of a sudden.
8:32 pm Dec 15th, 2008Nice cake. Looks like I’ll have to make one also.
12:24 pm Dec 16th, 2008