Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I am not a baker.

But Wednesday night, I had to be. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was my boyfriend's birthday, and he had requested a carrot cake... yikes! What's a non-baker to do?

Well, fortunately I had a recipe in my box! My tried and true carrot cake was super-easy to make, and ridiculously yummy and decadent.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium - large bowl add the dry ingredients: 3 c all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Combine thoroughly and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix 2 c sugar, 1.5 c cooking/vegetable oil (I use canola) and 4 eggs. I like to mix very well, until everything is fairly fluffy. Once that's done, slowly fold in (preferably with a wooden spoon) the dry ingredients in small increments. When thoroughly combined, add 2 large jars of baby food carrots (this is where I cheat - I refuse to grate carrots if I don't have to, and baby food is essentially pureed carrots and water). You can also add .5 cup of chopped nuts if you'd like.

Pour batter into an ungreased bundt pan and bake for 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean. Remove when done and set on a cooling rack for 15 - 20 minutes before flipping the cake out. Let cool completely (another 20 - 30 minutes) before frosting.

Now my favorite part, the cream cheese frosting!

In a small - medium bowl, mix together 1 lg package of cream cheese (softened) with 1 c powdered (confectioner's) sugar and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Whip until fluffy and creamy. Resist the urge to eat all the frosting before it ever touches the cake!