Foolproof Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Why exactly is the cake foolproof? Because it's so easy to make that the cake batter is ready for baking in no more than 30 minutes. And well, because I was quite satisfied with the pretty decent outcome (or so I thought :P), considering the fact that the last time I baked and frosted a cake was about 2 years ago. Haha. >.< This time around, I made this cake for Baby V's first birthday smash cake photoshoot. The best part of the cake? It's almost sugar-free. The cake itself is sugar-free, but the cream cheese frosting contains sugar. I consider it OK to let Baby V indulge in a little sugar since its her first birthday photoshoot. :P If you are planning to make your own birthday cake for your little one, don't miss this recipe! Trust me, it's not that difficult to pull off!

Before I start with the ingredient list, did I mention that no electric mixer is actually needed to make the cake? One thing less to wash! Hehe. Although you do need it for the frosting later. :P

Ingredients for carrot cake:

250g self-rising flour

350g coarsely grated carrot

300ml vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting:

250g cream cheese (equals to a stick of Tatura cream cheese)

110g unsalted butter (I didn't weigh it, roughly equals to half a stick of butter)

150g powdered sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease a 7 inch springform cake tin (I used an 8 inch but the cake came out not tall enough >.<) with some oil and dust it with some flour. Shake off excess flour. I prefer this method over lining-the-cake-tin-with-parchment-paper method because I find it difficult to actually cut and line "curly" paper around the cake tin. >.< But its entirely up to you, so long the cake comes off easily later. :P
2. Mix flour and cinnamon powder thoroughly in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and oil together. Stir in grated carrot.
4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, stirring it until just combined. You don't want to overdo it as this will cause the cake to rise less later.
5. Pour cake batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake at 180^oC for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
6. Once the cake is cool, scrap the sides and remove the cake from the tin.
7. To make the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. The amount of sugar I added was sweet enough for me, but you can adjust it to your liking. Just taste it while you beat the frosting. Hehe.
8. It's frosting time! Cut cake into 2 layers. Spread frosting on top of a layer. Then top it with another layer. Spread one smooth layer of frosting on top and on the side of the cake. 

If you are only doing simple frosting as mentioned, the amount of frosting created from the recipe above is enough. However, if you plan to kononnya (can somebody tell me already what's this Malay word in English? LOL) do a "rosy" frosting like what I did, you'll need at least 1.5 stick of Tatura cream cheese and 1 stick of butter. Why? Because I did not make enough frosting and ended up only frosting half the sides of the cake. LOL. >.< But it's still OK, one side of the cake is all that is needed for photography purpose. Haha. Anyway, if won't be nice to serve a cake like that in an actual birthday party with guests, no? LOL.

This is how the cake looks like from the outside.

Busted! Note the side of the cake that is not frosted with roses! LOL. :P

Now if you plan to do a "rosy" frosting, you'll need some extra tools, including a piping nozzle, a piping coupler and a piping bag. You can get all these from your local baking supplies store. Here's the thing about frosting, it gets all soft and runny after a while of piping due to the warmth of our hand. So what do you do with it? Pop the entire bag into the freezer for 15 minutes! The frosting is now cool and firm enough again for piping! :D

Most importantly, don't forget to buy a cake base, a.k.a. the aluminium wrapped thingy to place the cake before you start frosting the cake. I DIY the decorative banner using disposable chopsticks, coloured paper, string, and cellophane tape. Happy baking! :D





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