Mariclare Bakes: Spring Edition

Spring is by far my favorite season. I love how it seems like everything wakes up from winter. The trees bud, flowers bloom, the weather becomes warmer, and everyone is excited and hopeful for summer. Due to my love of spring, I decided to make a spring-themed cake for this issue. In my opinion, the cake that represents spring the most is a carrot cake. Carrot cakes bring to mind plants, bunnies, and flowers, which are all representative of spring. It also helps that carrot cakes are delicious too.

I did struggle a lot when making this cake. I couldn’t figure out how to decorate it. I thought of making a bunny-themed cake, a lamb cake, or a flower-themed cake. In the end, I decided to keep the cake simple. I thought that a simple cake would represent the simplicity and beauty of spring.

PSA: This is not my recipe I used https://www.inspiredtaste.net/25753/carrot-cake-recipe/. I did make some changes to her recipe. So if you want to see how I made it, keep reading.

Recipe:

Ingredients

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups flour

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 ¼ cups canola oil

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 4 eggs

• 3 cups grated carrots (5 to 6 carrots)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

• 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Grease your pan of choice and preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine your wet ingredients and mix

3. In a separate bowl add your dry ingredients and whisk until fully combined.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir them together until fully incorporated.

5. Then peel and shred the carrots. I used a food processor to make this process faster but a grater also works.

6. Once the carrots are shredded, fold them into the cake batter. Be sure to mix well.

7. Put the batter into fully greased pans, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until fully cooked.

8. While the cake is baking, make the cream cheese frosting.

9. Add the cream cheese and heavy cream to a mixer, and mix until combined.

10. Then slowly add in your powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time on low speed.

11. Once fully combined, continue mixing it for 5-7 minutes on medium speed. This will help your frosting be light and fluffy.

12. When the cake is done cooking let it fully cool before you frost.

13. Enjoy!

Reviews:

Ellie Faraci: 10/10 - “I think this is one of the best things you have made. My first word that I said after I ate it was WOW. The texture of the combination of the cake and the frosting was really good.”

Kelly Hong: 8/10 - “I don’t really like cake, but I actually like this one. I think it's also because I just love cream cheese frosting, but I also just like it more than I thought I would.”

Hannah Su: 9/10 - “It's not super sweet and the frosting is really good, and it’s not dry at all. I like it. “

Abbey Mckendall: 1,000,000/10 - “It is so delicious and moist. That was an experience and I want that a billion times over.”

Angela Nguyen: 10/10 - “The cream cheese frosting was really good. It’s not too sweet. The moisture is good, beautiful, I love it. 10/10 would recommend.”