Cake Monday: Milwaukee Carrot Ring

It's homecoming week! Yesterday it was Real Green Bay Chile. For today's cake, I baked this recipe for carrot cake I had clipped it from the Milwaukee Journal when I was a stay-at-home mom. Just to be different (or just being difficult), I divided the batter between a 6 cup Savarin ring mold and one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. The ring came out perfectly but the loaf had a dome in the center and flat edges. Next time I will bake half the batter in an 8 inch square pan, or bake one whole cake in a Bundt pan. For this recipe, I adjusted the method for blending the wet and dry ingredients and added the finishing touches.

Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar (original recipe: 1-2 cups sugar)
1 1/2 cups sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated carrots (about 2 large carrots processed finely)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter one 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Or divide the batter between one 6 cup buttered Savarin ring mold and one 6 cup buttered 8 inch square pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, beat eggs. Mix in sugar, oil, salt, and carrots.

Stir flour mixture into egg mixture in 3 batches, mixing until just blended. Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake 30-35 minutes (25 minutes in a convection oven) or until cake is done. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Unmold and cool completely. For a finishing touch, frost cake with caramel glaze, a cream cheese frosting, or simply dust with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

Mimi requested this easy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. You can control the desired sweetness:

8 oz block of cream cheese, softened, cut into cubes
1/2 cup butter (8 tablespoons), softened, cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar (just 2 cups sugar yielded a tangy tasting frosting)

Beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and sugar to taste. Beat until light and fluffy. Frosts one carrot cake or 1 carrot ring and 1 carrot cake loaf.