"Secret" Chocolate Carrot Cake

Well, I thought this was a secret recipe only my mother knew, so out of loyalty I've never shared it.  But when I googled it, I came up with 7,730,000 posts!!!!  Yes, seven and 3/4 MILLION chocolate carrot cake recipes out there!  Within the first 4 clicks, I realized that this recipe is the same as many many many of those flying around the internet, except some use chocolate and nuts in their frosting, which actually sounds good!  Alas, the 'secret' is out.  That being so, and the fact that I only have 5 followers, I feel pretty safe putting this out there now.  Sorry, Mom.  It's not quite as special as we once thought, sigh.  This recipe is by NO means healthy, but heck, it's the holidays!

Here's what you'll need:

Cake:

2C Sugar (palm sugar would make it a little healthier)

1/3C Cocoa (I might try 1/2C next time!)

2t Cinnamon

2t Baking Soda  

1/8t Salt

1 1/2C Veg Oil  (next time I'm using Extra Virgin Coconut Oil)

4 Eggs

3C Grated Carrots

Icing:

12 oz (1 1/2 Pkgs) Cream Cheese

1 Lb (3 1/2C) Powdered Sugar

1 Stick Butter

2T Vanilla (I like a LOT)

I think it's probably best if we start by grating our carrots.

You need enough to make about 3 cups, which is about a pound.

I washed and peeled them first, then grated them.

Please do NOT try to save yourself time by purchasing pre-shredded

carrots.  You'll pay 4 times as much and they'll be dessicated and gross.

Then, when you throw them into your cake, they'll act as little sponges, 

sucking all the moisture from your cake.  Don't be lazy now!  It really

did only take a few minutes by hand.  Much easier than dragging out 

the food processor...and much easier clean-up, too!  I started with a 

paper towel around it to protect my fingers, but soon found out it

was really annoying and not very helpful.

When you get down to the little nubbins, give them to your dog.

They love carrots and it's good for them.  Yessssss, my dog is

wearing a Super-Sissy costume complete with cape.  Why do you ask?

Set your bowl of grated carrots aside for now.

 Dump all of your dry ingredients into a large bowl

and stir with a fork to combine.

Next, add your oil and eggs.  Beat to combine.  OMG, all that oil!

Had I been thinking ahead, I probably would have tried coconut oil

or melted butter.  Maybe next time.  Of course, with all that sugar

and flour, there's no making this cake healthy, lol!

Add carrots last.  Your batter will be very thick and unusual for a cake batter.

This is how it should look.

Stir in your carrots.  Oh, wait!  This has carrots!  Does that put

it in the vegetable category, thus making it an allowable diet food?!

No?!?   Darn!  It's always something.

Next, we'll prepare our pan for baking.  Dump the butter you'll use

for your frosting into a clean, medium sized bowl.  Save that butter wrapper!

 

...and use it to grease your 9 x 13 cake pan!  See how much was hiding out on that wrapper!

Dump in your thick batter and smooth it out.

Pop in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until

a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  Mine is usually closer to 35 min.

This is not a cake you want to over-bake because it can get dry.  Better

to err on the side of under-done than over-done.

Okay, now while that bakes, we'll get back to our frosting!  Remember

that stick of butter we set aside in a bowl?  Plop all of the other icing

ingredients down right on top of it!

And then slowly beat them together, making a huge mess.  If making

the icing ahead like I did, cover it with plastic wrap and leave on counter until ready.

When cake is completely cooled, plop globs of the icing on top. 

This makes it easier to spread without damaging the cake.

And spread out evenly, or make a pretty design if you want.  At this point, you could add some chopped walnuts or even some chocolate chips if you want. I haven't tried either.  I love this cake without any extras.  If there's one small thing I'd change, I think I'd cut the icing down a third, or maybe even half. But then again, I'm not a huge icing fan in general.  My hubby loves the 3/4" high goo! Serve it up and refrigerate any extras.  I honestly don't know if it HAS to be refrigerated, but that's just what we do because of the cream cheese.  Well, that and because my husband loves all/any cake cold, which is weird.

I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of a slice of this cake!  We still have some, but I'm afraid if I take a piece out to photograph, I'll have to eat it, LOL! I've done really well at avoiding it the last three days, which is difficult to do!  It's not exactly in the 'diet' category.

Let me know if you try this cake for yourself. I think you'll love it...even if you don't like carrot cake!  It doesn't have any of that stuff like raisins, coconut or pineapple in it.  Not that that stuff is bad in and of itself, but I think it'd just ruin this cake's perfect balance. Seriously, leave it out.

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