Birthday Carrot Cake Recipe
Perhaps some of you thought I was off tending puppies yesterday or maybe even early birthday celebrating. Don’t I wish.
What I was really doing was nearly pulling my hair out over the inexplicable continued crap Internet connection I have. Ever since it went out about 10 days ago, it’s been on and off — and yesterday was completely off. Right now it’s touch and go (can’t access many pages), but I’m keeping positive.
And aside from causing me stress regarding work, it’s *completely* thrown off my blogging schedule. Argh.
Guess you’ll have to wait another year for today’s originally planned post. Or I’ll just save it for NaBloPoMo . . . with which I sincerely hope Telecom Italia cooperates.
So here is What’s Cooking Wednesday: the Birthday Edition — a day late for Wednesday, but just in time for my birthday! Woohoo!
For anyone who’s curious, I’m 31 today. So send any e-cards in large font please. Hah!
Now, back to the originally scheduled post:
For my birthday, I always have this chocolate cake. It’s my absolute favorite cake in the whole world — especially when my mom makes it.
But I’ve been feeling a little daring lately, in the mood for something different. And that, for me, means carrot cake.
I love carrot cake, haven’t had it in at least four years, and besides, isn’t it just a great autumn cake, spicy and orange and brown and cream cheese icing and yum?
I have never made a carrot cake before, and I’m not entirely sure why not. Probably because my mom isn’t particularly fond of it, so she never passed on a recipe, and goodness knows I stick to the recipes of experts around these parts.
So I turned to these Internets and went for the first recipe that came up. I know. Really selective right? Well you see, I had been going over what I thought would go into a carrot cake in my head, and this recipe fit that, especially with the adjustments listed in the comments. So I made my own tweaks, and below is what I came up with.
This cake is delicious. It’s a subtle carrot cake, and by that I mean it’s not at all like some store- or restaurant-produced cakes that make me feel like I’m eating a scented candle. I like my spices subtle, so if you like them stronger, you might want to adjust. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if you think you don’t like carrot cake, you should give this one a go.
Also, the original recipe had pecans. Some people in the comment section switched to walnuts, but I didn’t add any nuts at all; I’m not a fan of nuts in my cakes in general. But this would’ve been *fabulous* with raisins so I’ll make an effort to find them before I make this again.
My Birthday Carrot Cake
4 eggs
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 ¼ c vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla 2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 c grated carrots
1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan (or, as I did a 6 muffin/cupcake pan and a small loaf pan).
2. Blend together eggs, sugars, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt and add to mixing bowl a little at a time. At this point, the mixture will be really thick, almost pasty. Now you’re ready to stir in the carrots.
4. Pour into pan(s), and put in the oven. The original recipe says 40-50 minutes for a full-sized cake. My muffins took about 20 minutes, and the loaf pan about 40. Just make sure to always test with a toothpick in the center—if it comes out with no batter, you’re good.
For amateur bakers, the other trick is the “spring back to the touch test,” which says, not surprisingly, that the cake should spring back to your touch. I find this one a big dangerous though as you can sink the top of your cakes and muffins/cupcakes pretty easily, so I always use a toothpick.
5. Remove from oven and let cool before icing.
Cream Cheese Icing
The measurements in the original recipe looked really off to me so I used a tried and true cream cheese icing recipe that I’ve made before. You might want to play with this too according to your tastes and how much icing you like (I don’t use much). In fact, on the cake, I just sprinkled some confectioner’s sugar on top. Look it’s snowing in October in southern Italy!
8 oz softened cream cheese
4 tbl butter
1 ½ c powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
Beat everything together until smooth and to your desired consistency.
Grating the carrots makes this one a little labor intensive, but it’s worth it, especially if you’re making it for someone special — like for yourself. Come on, show yourself a little love this Love Thursday!
Happy Love Thursday and buon appetito!
Edited to add a request:
If you leave birthday wishes for me,
please leave the date of your birthday too (no year required!)
so I can return the wish.
96 Beans of Wisdom to “Birthday Carrot Cake Recipe”
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Recipes
Happy Birthday!!! I actually feel like it’s MY birthday, getting the gift of a carrot cake recipe!! lol
Carrot cake is my FAVORITE FAVORITE cake. I’m sending this one to Vicki (my test kitchen) to have her make it for me the next time I’m in town!
Hope you have a wonderful day. Enjoy your fabulous thirties!!!
Salena
The Daily Rant
PS: My birthday is September 23!
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Happy happy birthday to you!! The cake looks fabulous – just the sort of thing that could be eaten for every meal all day long (this is how I do birthdays). I’m sending you all the love and magic I know how.
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TANTI AUGURI Michelle!
Felize Cumple!
I hope this year is your most fabulous ever, and that they keep getting more fabulous.
May your day be blessed with beauty.
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I feel bad. I read your last post when you mentioned your birthday today, or your time, about to be, or just a bit ago, yesterday; and, I meant to leave a comment wishing you Happy Birthday. Obviously I didn’t. Mea Culpa and Happy Birthday.
The carrot cake looks great. Interestingly, it’s one of the few cakes, with cheese cakes that I like. Pies are much better to my taste buds.
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Tanti auguri per un buon compleanno!! That cake looks delizioso!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GIRL!!!!!! The cake looks so yummy, and your right. What a great choice for autumn cake. Nice pictures too! Glad your internet connection is working. Hope you enjoyed your day!!!!
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Buon Compleanno! Look at all those birthday wishes! I bet you had a wonderful day =)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Stacy
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Buon Compleanno! I am sorry about your internet. I remember ours was always really testy in Salerno. It’s so frustrating.
I am so excited to try that recipe! My husband is crazy for carrot cake! He’ll be so excited when he smells it. HaHa.
I hope this 31st year is wonderful for you!!!!!
Oh, and my birthday is December 2
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Haaaappy Birthdaaay to youuuu!
haaapppy birthday toooo you,
Happy Biiirthday Miiichelle,
Happy birthday tooooo yooou
A little out of tune, but with a lot of heart
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It’s your birthday, and you’re giving us a present in that recipe and picture! Well, many happy returns!
(11/4)
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Happy Birthday, Soggy.
Mine is [burst of static]
[transmission ends]
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I wish you the happiest birthday ever. That cake looks scrumptious, so I’m sure that’ll help. I only wish I could have a slice…
(29/5)
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Happy belated birthday!
My mom made a delicious cake yesterday. She must’ve known it was your birthday! I would send you piece, but well…poste italiane is sooooooo unreliable and ummm, we ate it all. I took it to work…my co-workers love my mom.
So anyways…it’s an almond citrus olive oil cake, only mom used pecans instead of almonds. It was awesome. Since I can’t bake you the cake, I’ll give you the link, which as far as presents go, is kinda cheesy…
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_28697,00.html
…especially since I didn’t bother to make a real link out of it!
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Grrr, pieces of the link keep disappearing. The recipe is at foodnetwork.com, under almond citrus olive oil cake. Sorry ’bout that.
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Tanti Auguri! l wish you the most happiest and joy filled birthday. May everything your heart desires become your reality…:*)
Ps. What a yummy cake!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!
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softdrink, you can shorten long addresses using TinyURL, così:
http://tinyurl.com/ypuxxp
…e grazie x la ricetta!
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Happy Birthday!!!
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Bonne anniversaire Michelle!! This recipe looks really good and I’ve been threatening to make a carrot cake for Thanksgiving this year (a Thanksgiving dinner in which I will be the only American!). I may give this one a shot – along with an apple pie, of course. Gotta have something in case the Frenchies don’t like the carrot cake!
You can come say hi to me on my birthday if you want – 23 may.
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Happy Birthday, Sognatrice! Hope it was a great one!
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Happy birthday! The carrot cake looks really yummy. Might have to try making that one soon.
My bday is 11/22 (we’re born on the same year)
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Happy late birthday! I hope it was beautiful!
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Happy, Happy Birthday Michelle! I too am a carrot cake conservative – steady on the spices and no nuts please. Hope you had a wonderful day despite the internet frustrations.
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********************************
happy Birthday to you
one day late,
happy birthday to you
one day late,
happy birthday to you,
Dear-and-Still-Quite-Young
In-My-Book Sognatrice….
happy birthday to you!
********************************
you are still a baby,
a lucky one,
by the way…
with all these goodies:
cutie man,
very cool lion,
fantastic blog,
handsome puppy,
great 2nd country,
even
a new camera
from your trucking friend
[ and thanks for that link! she is such the entertainer, that one! ]
you have it all!
i hardly know what to send you…
hummmm….
how about this:
*Best Wishes
that All Your Many More Birthdays
will be Dreams Come True!*
and
that your internet service
glows with improvement….
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buon compleanno, ragazza!
mi piace molto la torta di carota.
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Auguri! Happy birthday, a little late! The cake looks so good, especially the frosting!
BTW, I’ve been having trouble with our Telecom ADSL too.
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Oh, I’m so sorry I missed this yesterday! Happy (belated) birthday!
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Happy Birthday! Your cake looks very yummy.
Re: The Internets – I feel your pain! After more than 2 months of on-and-mostly-off connectivity, we have a new modem and voila, we’re back online. I sure hope your situation is resolved lickety-split.
And, by the way, I am doing the NaBloPoMo this year because I saw the link on your page!
Oh, and my birthday is March 9th, per your request.
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Tanti auguri, Michelle. Thirty-one is a happy age. I put a big lemon cake from Calabria up on my blog for you. I am big fan of carrot cake and will try your recipe.
Thanks for being on the Internets for all of us. I am hanging on your every word!
la tua amica,
Candace
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I’m behind this week, but happy, happy b’day! I hope despite internet woes that it was a lovely one and that this year will be everything you dream of!
I’m a Cancer girl – July 13.
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Happy (slightly belated)Birthday! I only make chocolate birthday cake…it’s a rule!
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I am completely overwhelmed by the birthday greetings–I may have to have to have these more often
Thank you all so much (a special thanks to former lurkers!), and now I’ll make my best effort to respond to any questions or comments that caught my eye….
Ryan, the weather here on the 18th was fabulous…then the 19th cloudy, and today it is pouring; I got the best one of the bunch for sure.
Greg, you need to get to the Salvation Army and donate!
Nino, your compliment on the photo means *so* much to me since I’m such a fan of your camera work
Minnie, thanks for de-lurking and thanks for the wishes!
MB, I’d love to tell you how the Italians reacted to the carrot cake, but I tend to give them away to people to take home, and then they never tell me they *don’t* like anything….
Cyndi, I’ll have to send you an email–you really don’t need to give me credit at all!
Taffiny, the story of your grandmother is hilarious…things were similar in my house, which we found out when at one point we compared my grandmother’s recipe for “gravy” (sauce) that she had given to my mom (her daughter-in-law), my brother’s wife, and me. Similarities, yes, but only I had the *real* one. Hah!
Carla, Betty Crocker cake mix?! The horror
Dee, I can’t wait to see my chocolate birthday cake–thanks
Karina, this would be a *great* Halloween cake–I’m picturing spider webs across the cream cheese frosting
Eryn, a food photographer? Thanks for the compliment! It sounds like lots of fun…although everyone cooking/baking would have to move to southern Italy. You think that’s feasible?
Sauntering Soul, thanks so much for de-lurking! One of my best friends also has an August 18 bday–easy for me to remember
Jeni, you’ve intrigued me with the Swedish Nut cake…hope Princess Maya had a lovely day
Sara, Loppy brings back such great memories! And really if you look closely, you’ll see that I was *very* picky with the angles for the photos…was the loaf lopsided? Well I’m not telling….
Miss Eliza, I celebrate the same way! I love cake of all kinds, and my birthday is the perfect excuse to overindulge…it’s only once a year after all.
Dave, no worries–and I’m a big fan of pies too. A fan of eating them, though, not so much making them…since I’m picky about pie crust, it means I always have to make my own, and that ups the work considerably. Maybe for Thanksgiving though (yes, I’ll be the only American celebrating here, but whatever).
Far away friend, I seem to remember now that you were a carrot cake fan too–I think we’re the only two people I know in real life who really likes it. You should try out this recipe for Thanksgiving….
Miss Mrs, P’s birthday is December 4
Moon Topples, I love how you keep me guessing….
Softdrink, that cake sounds awesome! Thanks for the recipe and also thanks to your mom for (sort of) thinking of me
No worries on the link issues–FWIW, I get the full link in an email with your comment, and when I see a link has been cut off, I try to repost it a follow-up comment with a shortened link like this:
Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake
But…
Paolo, thanks, as always for your kind help. So happy to see you round these parts again
Vivi, we should have a virtual Thanksgiving feast so we can share the fun! Hmm…blog event?
Grace, I’ll definitely remember your bday…anniversary of JFK assassination
SPF, what a spectacular wish! Thanks!
KC, mine seems to be more normal this morning. Hopefully it stays that way for at least a week this time (last time it lasted a day and a half).
Mental Mosaic, so glad you’re doing NaBloPoMo! What fun we’ll have! That was sarcasm in case it didn’t come through….
Italian woman, I’ll be right over for a slice!
Susan, that used to be my rule too; I’m pretty glad I bent that one this year…and besides, maybe I’ll just make a chocolate cake to celebrate 31 years and 1 week?
Thanks again to all who took the time to send good wishes!
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Better late than never … HAPPY B’DAY.
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SORRY. It’s a lot of time I don’t visit your web log. I was out for work. AUGURIIIIIII MICHELLE. My birthday was on 13, so we both are libra?
Another thing in common…
Ciao
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What a coincidence that these last two comments are from guys…thank you both for your good wishes!
And Antonino, happy belated birthday
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIrl!!
Love the cake
I’ll be fifty in Feb.
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Thanks Corey! I’ll be sure to stop by in February (and many times before that too)
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happy belated birthday Michelle! Sorry I missed it. I’ve been out of town!
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Thanks Enza! No worries on the belated wishes–I’ll take ‘em up until next year
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I’ve been MIA lately, and I can’t believe I missed your birthday!
Happy Belated Birthday!
(my birthday is December 1st – coming up soon!)
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Thanks Kathy! P’s birthday is just three days after yours
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Hi Michelle, wonderful blog you have here! A belated happy birthday to you (a fellow Libra, eh?), and here’s hoping 31 turns out to be the best year yet. I’ll be waiting anxiously for your report…
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Thanks so much Melissa, and thanks for stopping by! I’ll keep you posted on the 31 thing
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For my 31st I took my five year old to school, and I feel a lot younger now than I did then, dont ask me… but I think we start to age backwards from then on…
mines 9/9th.
buon compleanno!! (bettter late than never!) Hope it was a good one xx
Thanks Jaci; nice to see you
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