Gingered Carrot Cake from Paula Deen's Best Dishes Magazine, 2011

There's a carrot conspiracy going on at our house. It started about four and a half years ago when we flew halfway around the world to pick our daughter up at the orphanage in which she was living. As new parents, we wanted to do everything right and make sure that she was healthy. We read that "the experts" were saying to feed babies carrots and other sweet vegetables early so they'd develop a taste for them and, as they grew up, would prefer those things over candy and other teeth-rotting sweets.

It worked too. Right up until the first time that Dudette wrapped her chubby fingers around, then ate a piece of teeth-rotting candy, probably chocolate, and fell head-over-heels in love with the stuff. Since that day getting the young lady to eat those wonderful sweet vegetables like peas and carrots has been, in her eyes, a form of torture. Personally, I think we're the one being tortured with every whine, dramatic tear shed, fake gagging sound and all other attempts of hers to avoid eating the things that are best for her.

So, after the latest dinner table escapade, I decided to try a different tact. I'm hiding the carrots. There's a good chance they'll show up in everything, even ice cream, for a while. We'll see how desperate I get. But, the best way to begin the carrot conspiracy seemed to be with Paula Deen's Gingered Carrot Cake.

Underneath that cream cheesy, lemony, rich frosting are three cups of carrots. Three. Very finely shredded. Not even detectable by the human eye. But they're there.

What drew me to this recipe (and surprised me) when I first looked at it was the lack of butter (gasp! Paula without butter???). Instead, 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil are used. Paula says it makes for a more moist cake. I like the fact that I save my butter. The vegetable oil is joined by sugar, eggs and lemon zest and beaten until creamy, a bit harder to do with oil, but possible.

Flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg get whisked together in another bowl and then join the creamy mixture, beaten until smooth. So far, it was very easy.

Then it's time to grate carrots. And grate more carrots. And more. Three cups of shredded health takes about 7 good sized carrots and a fair amount of elbow grease. But it's worth it. It all gets added to the batter and folded in well. I was dying to add golden raisins at this point, but since I'm supposed to follow the recipe in order to review it properly, I held myself back and simply poured the cake into the pans (I had to use two instead of three since I only own two). Truth be told, there wouldn't have been enough batter to fill three pans so I'm not sure why the recipe calls for that.

Into the oven it went and I turned to the ingredients for the amazing Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. Finally; butter. A full cup of the stuff. And a brick of cream cheese, some lemon zest, lemon juice and six, yes six cups of powdered sugar. All whisked together into an incredibly rich, delicious cloud of sugary, buttery goodness.

I got the cake done, cooled and frosted just in time for me to head out and pick Dudette up from preschool. You didn't think I'd really shred carrots and add them to cake while she was around, did you?
"I have a surprise for you," I told the young preschooler as we were driving home. "What is it?" she asked excitedly. "Cake," I replied. "What kind?" she persisted (as I knew she would). "The kind with cream cheese frosting," I responded. I'm not older than her for nothing, you know. She was all excited and made a beeline for the cake stand when we got home. I sliced her off a good sized piece and plunked it down in front of her at the table.

She hated it. She loved the frosting but didn't like the cake. It's as though her spidey-sense knew that there were carrots in there.

Hubby and I love it, however. The frosting makes it incredibly rich and it can only be eaten in small amounts (which is absolutely fine with us). But it's fantastic. It is as rich and moist as Paula promises it to be. I still think it would have been awesome with the golden raisins. Next time.

And there will be a next time.

Gingered Carrot Cake
from Paula Deen's Best Dishes Magazine 2011

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
3 cups grated carrot (freshly grated, not bagged)
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Garnish: Pecans, lemon curls

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray and flour three nine-inch round cake pans.

Combine oil, sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat at medium-high speed until creamy. Add the lemon zest and beat to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually add to oil mixture, beating until combined. Fold in the grated carrot. Add golden raisins if you want.

Pour the batter into the pans. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, remove the cakes from the pans and cool completely on the wire rack. Assemble the cake by spreading the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

Garnish with the pecans and lemon.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine the cream cheese, butter, lemon zest and juice in a medium bowl and beat at medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth.