SG's Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I've never liked carrot cake.

For three reasons:

1. I'd find things like raisins, crushed pineapple, and coconut in the cake. And, sit there with my fork and attempt to pick them out. And, nuts. Always nuts. I like nuts in general, but I don't like them in carrot cake.

2. I don't like spice cakes. Allspice, cloves, nutmeg - too much of that makes me feel all itchy in the mouth. I just have an aversion to too much of those kinds of spices.

3. Long, stringy carrots. I don't know, I just never warmed up to the idea of an inch long piece of carrot in a cake.

So, I came up with a recipe that is - well - simple. No nuts, no raisins, no pineapple. No overpowering spices. And, no long, stringy carrots hangin' off the fork.

Just a simple, delicious, moist carrot cake. This cake makes me wanna take a running leap right into it and swim in the frosting.

Oh, how I love this frosting. Specks of cinnamon are swimmin' in it. They're living the life I was meant to live.

This cake is made extra moist and rich by the addition of buttermilk - into the cake and in the frosting! And, I pulse the livin' daylights out of the carrots with a food processor, resulting in little bits of carrot, instead of stringy strings.

I couldn't wait for the cake to cool to frost it and dig in. So, I grabbed my favorite plate and cut a piece. That's warm frosting dripping down the side. And, on my favorite plate. Heaven, help me.

I thought I'd snap a photo after I took a bite. Oh, how I suffer in the name of photography. Isn't this plate just a perfect shade of green? But, that's not why it's my favorite. You'll see why in a minute.

Nah, maybe one more bite and I'll have the shot I want.

Nope. Not it. Surely one more bite and I'll have the perfect shot.

Umm. That's not the look I was going for. Somebody stop me.

I could never leave my plate lookin' like this.

Never. Ever. Finger swiped up every last delicious bit of that frosting.

That little guy in the middle stole my heart the minute I saw him on a Pottery Barn shelf - just sittin' on a beautiful, milky green plate. I bought six of them. I love them.

Make this carrot cake. Grab your favorite plate. You'll be finger swipin' the icing, too.

Promise.

Here's the recipe.

SG's Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
my own recipe...

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
4 eggs, beaten
6 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (16 ounce) box confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and mix well with a fork. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and buttermilk. Beat with electric mixer until combined. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Fold in chopped carrots.

Slowly add flour mixture, mixing only until flour disappears. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until center bounces back when lightly pressed.

Cool cake before frosting. (Unless you can't wait, in which I perfectly understand.)

For the frosting, combine cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy - approximately 2 minutes. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla and beat on low speed until combined. Add buttermilk, milk, and cinnamon and beat until frosting is light and fluffy. Add more milk, if needed to get to desired consistency.

Frost. Eat. Serve. Lick clean. Repeat as often as you like.

You are, after all, eating vegetables.