Who Says Veggies Have to be Healthy?

Hi friends!  One of the great benefits of all the great veggie based cooking I've been doing lately is eating more healthy.  When you spend your week planning meals around swiss chard and cucumbers, it's tough to make a meal that doesn't at least err on the side of "good for you."  Every once in awhile, though, there is an opportunity to put the saute pan and extra virgin olive oil away and pull out the granulated sugar and vanilla extract!

I have an incredible recipe for carrot cake that receives RAVE reviews every time I make it, so I jumped at the chance to make it with some of my beautifully fresh, locally grown carrots.  The recipe came from a book so there's no link to it this time, but because I care so much about all of my readers, I have taken the time to type out the directions.  Note: This recipe makes a LOT OF CAKE - enough for a sheet cake.  I cut the recipe in half to make the portions more manageable, but the full recipe is here for you.

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 cups white sugar
  
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups grated carrots (pack them down firmly when you measure)

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 8-ounce package of cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:

• Grease or spray a 9x13" cake pan (I used large muffin tins for my halved recipe, which you'll see in the photos.  You can also use 2, 9" round cake pans) and set it aside.
• Beat the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla together in a large bowl.  Mix in the sour cream.  Add the baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix all together thoroughly.
• Add the can of pineapple (including the liquid) and the chopped walnuts to the mixture.
• Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.
• Add the grated carrots in by hand (they'll get all gunky in the mixer blade)
• Spread the batter evenly into the cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
• For the frosting, mix the butter, softened cream cheese and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.
• Add the confectioner's sugar in half-cup increments until the frosting is the proper spreading consistency.

The most time consuming part of this recipe, which you can see is a pretty straight forward one, is grating the carrots so I would recommend grating them first and then starting the whole process. 

Don't be scared of the crushed pineapple - you can't even taste it.  It does, however, add an incredible amount of moisture to the cake.  For evidence, I present my boyfriend who HATES pineapple and LOVES this cake.



The batter looks...how can I say this delicately...super gross.  The first time I made it I thought it was going to come out all wrong because it seemed runny looking, but it came out perfectly.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  If you give it a try, tell me what you thought of it in the comments!