Isn’t it funny that many of us…….ok, maybe just me……don’t like cooked carrots, but we love a good carrot cake? Everyone has their favorite carrot cake recipe. Some people like it with a lot of spices, some like it with pineapple, nuts and raisins. I remember my mom making carrot cake a lot. She would take it to all of her friends, her doctors, her insurance agent….everyone. Everybody loved it. That was the carrot cake I grew up with and I loved it. It was nothing fancy…..no pineapple, nuts or raisins. It was so moist. It didn’t even have frosting. So that’s how I thought carrot cake was supposed to be.

The first time I ever had carrot cake frosted, I was like, whaaattttt? I was so used to my mom’s cake. Over the years, I tried other people’s carrot cake, but never liked them. Until I tried my friend Grace’s recipe. Her’s has the perfect balance of everything and has the creamy cream cheese frosting. So, that is my go to recipe now. But lately I have been craving my moms cake…..with no frosting. I had her recipe (written in Japanese), that I had someone translate for me. Unfortunately, my cute little pet bunny chewed off most of the recipe. So, now I am on the search for a recipe similar to hers.

I found one with the same ingredients. I just have to get the quantities right. In the mean time, this one is close. It’s really good.  Like I said, it’s a no frills carrot cake….a great snack cake with a cup of tea or coffee. You can frost it if you want. I did have some leftover frosting from another cake I made, so I put just a small dollop of frosting on a slice. I also thinned out a bit of frosting to drizzle over a slice of the cake.  But I really prefer this one plain.

I really encourage you to try this if you’re looking for a simple, flavorful cake without a bunch of stuff.

You can see in the pictures, just how moist this cake is. It’s really good served cold!!

Carrot Snack Cake

1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 – 1 tsp cinnamon, depending on how much cinnamon you like
1  1/2 cup grated carrots (I use the grater attachment of a food processor, to shred the carrots. Then I remove the grater and put in the blade. Then I pulse it until the shreds are chopped super fine).

Heat oven to 350. Lightly oil an 8×8 baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the oil, sugar and vanilla together. Whisk in the eggs. Add the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix to combine. Don’t overmix. Stir in the carrots. Pour into baking dish and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, depending on your oven. Allow  cake to completely cool. Frosting is optional.

Frosting

4 oz softened cream cheese
1/4 cup  softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
few drops of milk if you want a thinner frosting to drizzle

Whip the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add vanilla and powder sugar and mix thoroughly. Frost, dollop or drizzle.

Store the cake in the refrigerator.