Carrot Cake

My husband loves carrot cake, so that is what I made him for his birthday cake this year. It works out that Easter is also coming up, since this is also a great Easter dessert.

Carrot Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

3 eggs

1/3 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups carrots, peels and grated

1 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (can put some inside the cake but I put on the outside)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Mix sugar and oil. Then add eggs, applesauce, and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix together. Then add carrots, nuts, raisins. Mix. Pour mixture into two greased 9-inch pans or a 9x13 pan. I sprayed my pan and then put wax paper in the bottom. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Allow to cool 1o minutes before removing from pans. Cool and then frost with Cream Cheese Icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

16 ounces cream cheese (2 packages), softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

5 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Orange and green gel food coloring

Beat cream cheese until softened. Then add butter. Add half the powdered sugar and mix. Add the other half along with vanilla and mix until smooth. Don't overmix. Set aside 3/4 cup of the frosting if you would like to color frosting for carrot decorations on top of cake. Frost cake. Place chopped nuts along the outside of the cake. Mix 1/2 cup and orange gel food coloring in a small bowl. Mix other 1/4 cup frosting in another bowl with green food coloring. Put coloring in bag and frost little carrots on top of the cake.