When my editor asked me to create an Easter-related recipe, I wasn’t sure what to make. I’m Jewish, and although I know there’s the hot cross buns and dyed eggs, I really didn’t know what Easter food was all about. But I did know something: There’s the Easter bunny, and bunnies love carrots. So–carrot cake!
This is a sweet, moist cake and a creamy frosting. Carrot cake and cream cheese frosting are a classic combination, but I added a special twist, with raisins that add juicy pops of sweetness into the cake. What’s fun and festive about this cake is the unique shape and candy decorations, which little kids can participate in.
Have fun, and Happy Easter!
XOXO,
Lauren
INGREDIENTS
For the cake
- 6 cups white sugar
- 3 cups sunflower oil (vegetable works also)
- 8 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 carrots
- 1 cup raisins
For the icing and decorations
- 24 oz cream cheese (around 3 cups)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Candy (I used multi-colored M&Ms, mini marshmallows, Jolly Rancher fruit gummies, and Haribo gummy bears)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two pans (or re-use one pan) with either canola oil spray or the paper wrapper of the butter.
Mix the sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Shred carrots. Combine wet mix, dry mix, carrots, and raisins well (but take care not to over-mix).
If using two pans, fill each pan up about halfway and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick goes in smoothly and comes out clean of batter. Let cool for 10
minutes, then transfer to cool for another 15 minutes on a cooling sheet. The cakes have to be completely room temperature to frost. If using one pan, repeat after baking the first sheet.
For the frosting, in an electric mixer (with a cover!), combine the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and the vanilla extract on low, increasing speed each minute for about 4 minutes. If you think the mixture too stiff to spread, add a little bit of milk or cream.
Transferring one cake to another baking sheet or platter, frost the top of it thinly–but use enough frosting so that you can’t see the color of the cake underneath. Place the other cake on top. With a knife, trace as large an egg as possible onto the cake. Cut the egg shape out, moving the edges to the side. (Yum, mid-baking snack!)
Frost the entire cake generously, making sure to get the sides as well. The frosting should not fall on to the pan when you put it on the sides. Decorate the cake with candy as you like–a fun activity for little kids to pitch in with!
