Carrot Cake With Baby Food Carrots

Submitted by garricks

"I love carrot cake, but I'm not fond of the texture of shredded carrots. I got this recipe from a former boss, Debra. Love it! Note: I haven't tried it, but I'm sure this will make awesome cupcakes!"

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 1 cake
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 (4 ounce) jars carrots, baby food
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

directions

1. Cake method: Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan.
3. Place first 9 ingredients (through 2 teaspoons vanilla) in a large mixing bowl.
4. Beat with electric beaters or mixer paddle for 2 minutes on medium speed.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6. Bake in 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool completely; prepare icing in the meantime.
8. -------.
9. Icing Method: In a medium bowl, combine final three ingredients.
10. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
11. Ice completely cooled cake.
12. Grab your own piece before anyone else knows it's done!

Reviews

[Iownworld]

It does make fantastic cupcakes. I love this way of making carrot cake, it is so easy. I made some modifications to the recipe as it is here to fit my personal tastes: <br/>1. I replaced the oil with apple sauce 1:1. The last time I made these as cup cakes the bottoms were very greasy and while they didn't stick to the liner, they were ugly to look at. Replacing the oil eliminated this problem and also cuts calories by a lot.<br/>2. I added about an .125 tsp of nutmeg. It's fall after all and nutmeg and fall just go together for me. <br/>3. I added 1 large carrot (shredded). The store I went to was almost sold out of baby food, so I had to compromise. <br/>4. Instead of 2 cups of white sugar, I did 1 cup of white and 1 cup of brown. I think it just gives the finished cake a better flavor. It might just be my obsession with brown sugar, though. <br/>5. Long ago I found that Cream cheese with about .25 -.5 cup powdered sugar (just enough to make it stiff) and a little vanilla is all you need for frosting. I really dislike overly sweet frosting.<br/>I got about 20 cupcakes out of the recipe, but that is because I just guess at how much is in each cup. They took about 20 minutes at 350.<br/>If you stumble across this, I hope you enjoy it! It's a fairly quick batter to put together so its great for any of those last minute baked goods needs.

 

[Sydney Mike]

First off I need to tell you that I much prefer my own recipe for carrot cake, chuck full of shredded carrots & with a glaze rather than a cream cheese frosting! That said, I gave your recipe a 5-star rating because, ALL those who tasted it (I made it for neighbors & friends) all enjoyed it very much, so what can I say but that it's a winner around here! Thanks for sharing the recipe! [Made & reviewed for one of my adopted chefs in this Spring's Pick A Chef event]

 

[Diamondlil]

I guess if you are used to eating cakes from a box mix, you would like these. Not even similar to carrot cake cupcakes from scratch. I did not like the texture and it had zero taste. They were actually pretty oily. I only tried this recipe because I remember my Mom making carrot cake using baby food carrots. Now that I think back to it, my mom was not a baker and when she did make cake, it was from a box. I don't know if adding grated carrots and adding some additional spices would help. At that point, if you are grating carrots, you might as well make cupcakes from scratch. I rarely am this harsh, but I really did not like this recipe.

 

[Mollie B.]

Worst carrot cake I have tasted. I don't like the consistency either