Gooey Cinnamon Carrot Cake

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I CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM RIGHT NOW!  WELL, ^ EXCITED!!

And do you want to know why?  Not only am I sharing one of the BEST cakes I have ever tasted in my life but...drummmmmmmmmmm rolllllllllllllllll please! 

LSM WAS FEATURED ON FOODBUZZ'S TOP 9!!

Excuse my French, but can you freakin' believe it?!  BECAUSE I CAN'T!!  I got a comment from Amanda at At the Red Table congratulating me on my Top 9 feature and I was like wha, wha, wha?!  I honestly had no clue.  I hadn't checked my e-mail yet but lo' and behold, there was LSM's very own Baked Carrot Cake Donuts sitting smack dab in the Foodbuzz daily e-mail at the number two spot!  Woop, woop!  So thank you, thank you, thank you to anyone and everyone who clicked on my picture.  I honestly am so very excited about this and it's all because of YOU!

Okay, sorry.  I've calmed myself down a bit.  Now on to the other star of this post ☺

If you follow LSM on Twitter [and if you don't, you should, so click on that little 'T' to the right to get LSM Twitter updates and sneak peeks!] you may have noticed a sneak peek picture of the cake I'm presenting today.  And let me tell you, it really only was a sneak peek of all the deliciousness this [out-of-this-world] cake has to offer.  Seriously, words can barely describe how indulgent and...see, I can't even think of another worthy word!

I came across this sinfully wonderful cake over at Simply So Good.  Ha, hmmm?  Guess this cake will be so good, huh?!  Wrong.  This cake is too, too good!  Quite honestly, easily one of the best cakes I've had in a looOoooOoOng time.  Too long, actually.  Looks I may need to make this cake again...say Easter weekend?!  You're welcome, family ☺

So what makes this cake so rave-worthy?  Well let's see.  It could be the cinnamony-pineapple-pecans-coconut-carrot cake or the unique caramely-like buttermilk glaze that seeps into the cake or the overly thick, rich, cinnamon cream cheese frosting sitting atop every other layer.  I mean, maybe one of those elements will get ya.

Total sarcasm people!  And all of those described elements are in one stinkin' cake!  Whewie!

So long post short [see what I did there?], you do not want to pass up this recipe.  So do everyone at your Easter dinner a favor and make this cake.  Do it  .

My Notes:

• To poke holes in the cake, I used the handle end of a wooden spoon.
• Make sure the cake is thoroughly cooled before frosting.  You know me and my lack of patience, so I frosted the cake a bit too early and it ended up seeping into the cake making it a bit more soft than probably it should have been.  I popped the cake in the fridge to remedy, but I just suggest holding out on frosting if time permits until the cake is cooled.

From Simply So Good

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

3/4 c. buttermilk

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar

2 c. peeled and grated carrots (about 2 to 3 large carrots)

1-1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut

1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)

1 c. chopped pecans

Buttermilk Glaze:
 1 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Spray 13x9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. For cake, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
3. Place eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and sugar in a large bowl and mix until smooth.  Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Gently fold in carrots, coconut, pineapple, and pecans.  Pour batter evenly into prepared pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed.
4. While the cake is baking, to prepare the glaze, add sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda to medium-sized saucepan over medium heat.  Vigorously stir mixture (adding the baking soda will make the mixture foam, stirring will subside the rising foam!) for about 8 minutes.  The glaze will begin to turn an amber color.  When the mixture is a light amber color, remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Set aside until ready to use.
5. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately poke holes in cake.  Pour the buttermilk glaze over the top of the hot cake and spread evenly.  Let cake cool completely.
6. While the cake cools, for frosting, add cream cheese and butter in large bowl and beat until fluffy.  Add brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix until combined.  Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  
7. Once the cake is cooled, evenly spread frosting over cake.  

Yield: 24 servings

Baked Carrot Cake Donuts

.  Easter, Easter, Easter.  Oh, Easter.  How you have snuck up on me!

Shocking?  Not quite.  To me, it seems like the various holidays creep up on me faster and faster every year.  Good or bad thing?  I haven't quite decided yet.  I'll get back to you on that.

Anyway, we all know how fun holiday-themed goodies are.  And being the try-to-be seasonal baker, I obviously want to take advantage of the once-a-year opportunities I have to make certain things.  Because, duh, one can never make a pumpkin dessert in the Spring!  That is simply preposterous.

So my goal for this upcoming week is to pump out a couple of Eastery desserts and possibly even a little round up of past Easter-themed goodies I've made.  You may have to hold me to that though so I actually get it done.

When I think of Easter, my mind immediately jets to Carrot Cake.  That classic Carrot Cake with a dollop of thick, rich cream cheese frosting [queue in the drool].  Carrot Cake is actually one of Robbie's favorite cakes, so this time of year is particularly good to him.  I was personally never a huge carrot cake fan until I was older, I think the fact that the cake literally has carrots in it made me think there was no way it could be good.  But once I took a chance, I never turned back!  It got me.

So because of my [and Robbie's] love for Carrot Cake, I'm especially excited to share with you..ta dah!..Baked Carrot Cake Donuts.  But wait!  This isn't just any old Carrot Cake recipe.  Nope.  Well yeah, Jess.  It's a donut.  Yes, you are correct.  But!  There's also a few added ingredients that make this Carrot Cake Donut uber special.  Let's just say pineapple, nutmeg, and toasted walnuts are a few of those uber components.  Intrigued yet?  You should be.

These donuts were just too good.  I must say, they are extremely light and fluffy, you won't get that dense donut most of you are probably thinking of.  They're much more cake-like, but absolutely perfect for a morning treat that won't put you in a food coma.  I likey  .

My Notes:

• I chose to ground up my walnuts because I thought it would look much prettier than the huge chunks.  But feel free to leave the walnuts in larger pieces and you don't even need to toast them if you don't like.  Completely up to you!
• When making the frosting, make sure to have your cream cheese and butter pretty soft, otherwise you'll end up with a chunky frosting like I did.  If this does happen, I popped my frosting into the microwave for a few seconds to break down the chunks.

Adapted from BrueCrew Life

Ingredients:

Donuts:

1/2 c. butter

2/3 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 c. vanilla yogurt

2/3 c. crushed pineapple, drained (save juice for frosting)

2/3 c. finely shredded carrots

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:

3/4 c. toasted walnuts, ground

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 tbsp. butter, softened

2 tbsp. pineapple juice

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.  For the donuts, cream together butter, sugar and salt in large bowl.  Add egg, vanilla extract, and yogurt and beat until smooth.  Stir in pineapple and carrots.  
2. Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, beating on low speed until combined.
3. Fill a ziploc bag with donut batter, snipping off one corner.  Pipe batter into prepared pan, filling cavities 1/2 full.  Bake 10 minutes.  Let cool in pan before removing to wire rack.
4. Place walnuts onto baking sheet and bake about 8 minutes or until fragrant.  Let cool on baking sheet.  Place walnuts into food processor and pulse until walnuts are ground (don't ground them too much, some larger pieces are still desirable).  Set aside.
5. For frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and pineapple juice in medium bowl until smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar until smooth.  Frost cooled donuts as desired and sprinkle with ground walnuts.

Yield: 18 donuts

Easter Carrot Cupcakes

. Whew, what a crazy last 24 hours!  It's been filled with batches of [botched] cupcakes, a little sleep, full day of work, my mom and brother coming to Omaha for all of 2 hours, and a new little addition to the household for the coming month.

And who is this new member of the family, you ask?!  Well it's that little [big] guy below, my brother's beagle, Leo!

Whether we're prepared for a four dog adventure or not, we got it!  My brother has finals during the first week of May and along with that, working, and productive extracurriculars, his time at home is going to be severely limited.  So, as a good sister would (wink, wink), I offered up my services to watch Leo for the month of May.  My boyfriend and I are both very excited to have this little guy around but...you may want to check back in with us half way during May.  Could be a different story?  Joking!  We'll have our hands full for sure but Leo is such a cute boy, I know he'll fit riiight in with us.

But let's get to these Carrot Cupcakes that I promised you on Tuesday!  Okay, so the overall cupcake turned out great: moist, flavorful, and I must say, so incredibly cute!  And aside from the frosting, this is a one-bowl cupcake recipe!  Can't get much easier than that ☺ But not going to lie, there was a teeny road bump along the way.  I wanted to double the batch since the original recipe only makes a dozen cupcakes (these were for Treat Day at the office and there's definitely more than 12 people in my department!).  However, somewhere along the way something went wrong and I ended up with cupcakes caving into themselves.  In a panic, I started a second batch [without doubling the recipe] and the cupcakes turned out fairly well.  They still didn't look like I remembered but the flavor was there so that's all that matters.  The rest of the way was smooth sailing: a sweet cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut, and a few Cadbury Chocolate Eggs to top off this Easter goodie.  My goal was to end up with a 'birds nest' on top of the cupcake (in the spirit of Easter) and I think I ended up with a pretty good representation.  You can be the judge though.

I truly wish everyone a very Happy Easter and hope that these Carrot Cupcakes make their way onto your dessert table! .

Carrot Cupcakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 c. sugar

1/3 c. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. orange juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1-1/2 c. finely shredded carrots

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/4 c. shredded coconut

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 c. powdered sugar

Garnish:

1 c. shredded coconut

1 (10 oz.) package mini chocolate eggs

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F.  Oil or line with muffin cups a standard muffin tin.  In bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and eggs.

2.  Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt.  Add flour; mix.  Stir in carrots, walnuts and coconut.

3.  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.  Let cool completely.

4.  Spread coconut for garnish evenly on baking sheet.  Bake 3 minutes and then toss coconut to mix.  Bake additional 3 to 5 minute or until toasted and golden.  Set aside.

5.  For frosting, in medium-sized bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Whisk until smooth.

6.  Frost cupcakes.  Garnish with toasted coconut and place two to three chocolate eggs on top.  

Yield: 1 dozen cupcakes

*My Notes:

• To make the cupcake batter, I only had to use one bowl and mixed everything with a spatula.  So very easy and less clean up!
• I usually shred my own carrots, but for some reason this time around I bought already shredded carrots.  The pieces were a tad bit large, still good, but I would recommend buying finely shredded carrots or just doing it yourself.
• When filling the cupcake liners, I only filled them about 1/2 full.  I personally like the look much better and having a more flat top for the garnishes worked out very well. 

Carrot Cake Cookies

. Gingerbread Bagels.  Okay, probably not the first thing that would come to mind in a Carrot Cake Cookie post.  But there's some rational behind my thinking [sometimes].  I'm not talking about actual Gingerbread Bagels (but that would be interesting, huh?!).  No, not bagels.  Rather, I'm talking about one of my favorite all-time blogs, one I came across when I first entered the blogging world.  Not only do the pictures make me want to pick the goodies right from my screen, but this recipe alone proves the legitimacy of her creations.  Seriously, these are THAT good!

I bookmarked this recipe the millisecond I laid my eyes on it and it far surpassed all of my long awaited anticipation!  And I say 'long awaited' because, duh!, I had to wait until Easter "season" to start whipping out my carrot-filled goodies.  But anyway, these cookies are wonderfully spiced.  And when you bite into them, every once in a while you come across a plump golden raisin that makes the cookie ultra chewy and fills your mouth with a simple pop of sweetness.  Oh, and the cherry [not literally] on top?!  These cookies are "garnished" with a thick, rich, creamy cream cheese frosting that brings all of the elements together.  The original recipe actually made these lovelies into cookie sandwiches, but since I was planning on sharing (and I only came out with 24 cookies = 12 sandwiches), I opted to leave the cookies as singles.  But obviously, making them into sandwiches gives you two times the yumminess and I would NEVER argue that!

I'm doing my best to describe every last bite of these cookies to you, but I already know I'm not in any way close to doing them justice.  Guess you'll just have to make them to get what I'm truly talking about! .

Carrot Cake Cookies

from Gingerbread Bagels

Ingredients:

Cookie:

1-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed

1/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c. shredded carrots

1/2 c. golden raisins, chopped

1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 375°F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice; set aside.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Add the egg and mix for another 2 minutes.

4.  Slowly add dry ingredients until almost combined.  Use a spatula or mixing spoon to fold the batter so that the flour is incorporated (be careful to not over mix).  Fold in carrots, coconut and raisins.

5.  Shape 1-1/2-inch balls of dough and place on sheet 2 inches apart.  Place the sheet in refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.  

6.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes.  Let cookies cool 1 to 2 minutes on sheet before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

7.  For frosting, combine cream cheese and butter in large mixing bowl (do not over mix).  Add in vanilla extract and blend.  Slowly add in powdered sugar with mixer on low speed.  Frost cookies as desired.

Yield: 24 cookies 

Study break snack for the taste tester boyfriend!

*My Notes:

• When making the dough balls, I shaped them into cylinders (seen in the above picture).  I picked up this particular technique during my stint at the Salty Tart, but for this particular batter which is quite soft, it didn't really matter.  Dang it...
• DO NOT forget to put the dough balls into the refrigerator before baking!!  This is an important step that Gingergread Bagels made sure to emphasize.  Doing so hardens this batter a bit, otherwise the cookies spread out way too thin while baking.
• Please take note of the Easy Accent Decorator I used to frost the cookies (also seen in above picture).  My cousin sent me this from Pampered Chef and even though this was my first time EVER using it, I will never frost a cookie without it again!  It was so, so easy and you can get some really cool designs out of it.  

Tried & True Tuesday: Carrot Tea Cake

. St. Patty's Day has finally passed, which means no more green desserts, corned beef, potatoes, or soda bread.  So what next?!  There really is nothing in season as of now (at least in good ol' Nebraska) but this lull we are experiencing before the fresh produce begins to pop up [literally] can only be filled with one thing: carrots!

What?  A veggie?  You betcha!  Easter is just around the corner and in order to get in that dyed egg-bunny hopping-chocolate candies mood, I think a few carrot desserts are the perfect solution.  And quite honestly, I've been dying for the St. Patrick's Day festivities to subside so I could officially begin testing out a number of carrots desserts that I've been collecting.  And yes, I'm a seasonal person so I did have to wait until after the green holiday to begin my Easter baking ☺

For today's Tried & True Tuesday, I'm giving you a wonderfully moist, spiced carrot cake [loaf] topped with a rich cream cheese frosting that no one can resist.  I actually brought this little loaf of goodness into the office last spring for Treat Day and from the tiny crumbs sitting on the plate at the end of the gathering, I would say it was fairly liked...

This Carrot Tea Cake recipe comes from my good friend [wink, wink] Martha Stewart.  I've tried several of her recipes and even though I've stumbled across a dud or two, this is NOT one of them.  Another plus?  The cake itself is made in a loaf pan, making the process that much easier.  Stir a few ingredients here and there, place in pan, bake, frost, and voila!  A luscious frosting-topped cake [loaf, I can't decide what to call it...] that's sure to please!  Let the Easter season begin! .

Carrot Tea Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. packed grated carrots (about 2 carrots)

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour 9x5-inch loaf pan.  In bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2. Using mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Beat in carrots.  With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Transfer batter to pan; bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Turn out to wire rack to cool completely.
3. For frosting, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, until fluffy.  Frost top of cooled cake.

Yield: 1 loaf

*My Notes:

• Make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting, otherwise the cream cheese will begin to melt.  Not very pretty...