Carrot Cakes and Premature Autumns

Greetings, G.O. Readers!

Well look at me! I’m on a roll. Can’t believe I’m putting out three entries in a row. Kudos to me! I hope all you guys enjoyed the lemon brownie recipe I posted yesterday. Maybe you can try it this weekend. As you could probably tell from Monday’s entry, I’m in a premature Autumn frenzy, (and it doesn’t help that the temps have been mild so far this week). Needless to say, I’m dreaming of sweater weather, hot chocolate, and making a new Fall wreath. I’m even excited that Party City is hiring. That can only mean they’re getting geared up for their Halloween help. Yeah!

Anyhoo, that got me to thinking about my favorite Thanksgiving dessert to bake, which is Patti LaBelle’s carrot cake. It is so delicious, and it takes a short cut by using carrot baby food instead of shredded carrots; yet it tastes the same, if not better than traditional carrot cake! Each bite is just a mouthful of moist, nutty goodness. I should really shut up about it now. I think I will and just share the recipe with you. Here goes:

My Patti LaBelle cookbook

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs — at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Four 4 oz jars carrot baby food (1 1/2 cups)
One 8 oz can crushed pineapple, well drained
3/4 cup (3 ounces) chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese — at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter — at room temperature
1 tablespoon half and half or milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner’s sugar (1 pound)
15 walnut halves, optional

Now let’s whip it up!

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly butter and flour three small cake pans, tapping out the excess flour. Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt together and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at high speed, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minutes. Mix in the carrot baby food. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and mix until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the pineapple, chopped walnuts, and raisins. Spread evenly in the prepared pans. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed in the center, about 1 hour. Cool completely in the pan on a wire cake rack.

To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, half and half, and almond and vanilla extracts until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar. Spread the frosting over the top of the cake. Cut into 15 pieces. If desired, garnish each piece of cake with a walnut half.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the finished product, as I usually only make this the day before Thanksgiving. It’s so good I think my husband would go into sugar shock if I made it any more often than that. So here’s another recipe you guys might want to try. And keep in mind this can be made any time of the year–so enjoy. I will say it takes a lot of ingredients, but it’s well worth the money.

I also have to say that I promise, I’m not turning this into a food blog–even though there’s nothing wrong with a good recipe now and again, now is there? Ok, I’m going to try to can the Fall Fever at least until September officially comes in. But here’s a sneak peak at how “bad” I’ve been already: