Pumpkin Carrot Cake

Who doesn't like cake? I LOVE it!  And, since yesterday was my birthday, I just HAD to make one. There are times it would be nice just to have one show up in my kitchen - poof. But, I am pretty particular about my desserts - I don't like most store bought cakes. I would LOVE the cakes from the bakery, but the budget does not allow for that (and really I am too cheap to not feel guilty about spending that kind of money on a cake). Good thing I like to bake!

This year I wanted something other than white or chocolate cake. Time for something different. But, I was not in the mood to spend tons of time baking. Off to Google and Pinterest I went, in search of cake, exactly what kind I was not sure. It did not take long for me to decide  - pumpkin cake. YES! But not just any pumpkin cake. I wanted stuff in it. A roll would have been good - but too putsy for the day. Then I cam upon this recipe. Yes, this is what I wanted to try.



So, off to the store - mostly because we were out of bread a milk - but also to get a couple of the things I did not have on hand (because we were out of just about everything! Yep, one of those weeks.

I made a few changes to the recipe. One by mistake (forgot to add the pineapple). The others on purpose.
First, I made 2 - 9" cake rounds. I would love to have stacked them, but instead I had to leave one plain for the rest of the family. No sense in making a cake only I would eat. My body would NOT thank me for that!

This is essentially a dump cake - everything in the mixer and mix! I left all the 'add-ins' out until the very end. I did substitute half whole wheat flour. In this type of cake, it works brilliantly. I would not try it with other lighter cakes. Need to use the whole wheat flour in dense cakes with lots of other flavors - otherwise, the kids will know.

So, plain half into the pan.
Now to add to MY half.
I added over a cup of carrots to my half! About 1/2 cup coconut. 1/4 cup walnuts. ~1/3 cup raisins. All of this is to just HALF the batter. Mix it all together and into the oven it all went.

FYI - the plain half cooked in just 25 mins. My good half cooked in about 35 minutes. The add ins made a big difference - which kind of surprised me, but not really. It makes sense, I just wasn't counting on it.

For the frosting - I like a very cream cheesy frosting. The kids don't like it one bit. So, I made a regular butter cream for their half and cream cheese for mine. I also left some of it unfrosted, because I thought it might taste good for breakfast and didn't want THAT much of a sugar high to start the day.

For the cream cheese frosting, I do 8 oz cream cheese, 3/4 stick butter, tsp vanilla, 1-1.5 cups powdered sugar. Like any frosting, you can play with the proportions until you get a flavor you enjoy. This one almost takes like cheesecake - you are warned.

And so, I am another year older (hopefully a bit wiser as well). I am so very thankful for my family and everything/one in my life. Over the next year, I hope to be able to continue to change eating habits and increase exercise habits so I can enjoy my life that much more and hopefully for many more years to come!