Carrot-Raisin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot cake is something that you either love...or you don't! I do. There's just something about the moist goodness of carrots and raisins combined with cream cheese frosting (with a hint of orange juice) that makes me say "Oh, yeah." This recipe is from Taste of Home. I like it. The only addition I would make would be about half a cup of chopped walnuts,  so I added that to the recipe. "Oh yeah."

Ingredients

• 1 cup raisins
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups grated carrots

Frosting

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

• Toss raisins with 2 tablespoons flour; set aside. In a large, beat the brown sugar, oil and eggs until well blended. In another large bowl, combine the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and remaining flour; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in carrots and reserved raisins.
• Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 325° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in orange juice and vanilla. Gradually add confectioners' sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Spread over cake. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Sharon's Note: I prefer a 2 layered cake, with that yummy frosting inside, too. You may use two round or 8x8 square cake pans instead of the 9x13 baking dish. Test to see if the cake is done after approximately 30 minutes, checking at 10 minute intervals after that point. If you feel really decadent, add just a little extra orange juice and vanilla extract than called for in the original recipe. You may even want to double the amount of icing (oh mercy)! It's always fun to save and tint a bit of the icing orange to make "carrots" on top using a piping bag and large leaf tip.