Carrot Cake Adventures Part I

I've been wanting to make a carrot cake for quite a while now, and an uneventful Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect moment to bake one. Plus, I'm probably spending less money making one than I would buying a tiny slice from a place like Bread & Roses, as good as their carrot cake may be.

Armed with a special family recipe and the trust that goes along with it--"This recipe has never gone wrong"--I thought it would be the easiest ever.

That was before a spider decided to run across the countertop, and also before I decided to divide the recipe by three so it would fit in a smaller pan. The first problem was easier to solve than the second, surprisingly. 

To put it in a few words, my first carrot cake isn't that great. Not great at all, actually. Although "moist" is usually a much sought-after adjective when describing a cake, there is such a thing as too moist.This happens when I decide to leave out the golden raisins, prunes, AND nuts from the recipe, don't add enough flour (that's the problem with dividing a recipe up), and keep the same amount of oil.

I decided not to go any further with this minor disaster so I didn't make the cream cheese frosting I was initially going for, and opted for a quick glaze instead (confectioner's sugar + a little bit of water).

Here is the result, after noticing the oil on my hands whenever I touched the cake. Oh, and after the cake broke in half. Fun:

Update: After cooling off, the cake is looking a little better, and definitely not as greasy as it used to.

I am sticking by this recipe though, but next time I'll just make the whole thing instead of dividing it up like I did. Here goes:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 tbsp cinnamon

7 large prunes, pitted

5 medium carrots

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1,5 cups oil 

3/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup pecans (I think?)

Preheat oven to 325° (160C).

Mix dry ingredients together (except raisins & prunes) and set aside.

Shred the carrots--you should have 3 cups. Add chopped prunes and set aside.

Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat until the mixture is thick and light colored. Little by little, add the oil. Add carrot and prune mixture, and golden raisins. Add dry ingredients without overmixing. Put the batter into a greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan, and cook 55 minutes.

Part II will have to wait until Thursday--same recipe, new frosting!