Carrot cake - Simple yet delicious cake for a wedding anniversary

My friend N and I have known each other since Class V and catching up with her in Bay area was the least possible thing I would have thought myself since we left school. Nearly after more than five years of no contacts, we were glad to find each other through orkut.

Getting in touch with school mates is so thrilling and exciting for most of us. We would have seen each other as kids with two plaits, uniform, canvas shoes, frocks, school team rivals and meeting them as grown ups years later will bring a huge smile on our face. We kept giggling all the time when she visited me and it was a trip down the memory lane:-)

Even though many of us went to different schools after Class X, my bonding with friends from JV (my LKG-Class X school) is very special because everything related to that school is so precious, priceless and so close to my heart. Their seem to be no major change in our discussion topics and nothing has changed since school days: we talked about everything from the useless local gossip to movies, from teachers to fellow classmates, from local restaurants to shopping, from cooking to work and gladly, we both have not changed from being a chatter box and we still have so many uncovered topics under the sky to talk and comment :-) I am so happy that she is living in the same part of the world.

We have been planning for a long time to do baking and some how each of us were busy (she is one super busy working lady!). One fine day, after our badminton session, we decided to bake a carrot cake.

It was my parent's 25th wedding anniversary few weeks ago. Since S & I couldn't join them, we baked a cake for the occasion along with my friends.

Dear Amma & Appa
Happy anniversary!
From
V, S, also N & K

The cake was soft, moist and perfectly baked. The walnuts added a wonderful crunch in every bite. It was super delicious and was easy to fix. Adjust the sugar level accordingly to your choice. I found the frosting too sweet and made the whole cake taste like candy. So next time when I bake, I wouldn't do the frosting.

Serves 10 - 12.

Ingredients
For the cake:
1 cup walnuts - toasted and coarsely chopped
2 cups raw carrots -finely grated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1 cup oil ( I used canola oil)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:
Beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer, just until blended with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, until fully incorporated and smooth. Finally beat in the vanilla extract and give it a complete mix.


Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 x 2 inch cake pans with butter and dust with flour. Set them aside.

Toast the walnuts for about 7-10 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

Peel and finely grate the carrots. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

In bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored (3-4 minutes). Slowly pour the oil into the bowl and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until well incorporated. With an wooden/ rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and chopped nuts. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5 -10 minutes, loosen the edges with a blunt knife and invert the cakes onto the wire rack, and then cool completely before frosting. Chill for 15-20 minutes for the frosting to set well.

Note: Since there are two baked cakes, we could layer the frosting like a sandwich and also on top and around the cake. Since we ate one cake without frosting, we layered other one with the frosting on top. Its up-to you to decide on that.