You know, “oops” happens. Life would be pretty boring if there were no “oopsies” every now and then. Me, I think I’m probably the Ambassador of “oops”, when it comes to being in my kitchen (except when I have an “oops” moment, its not so much a quaint, lady-like “oops” that comes out of my mouth, so much as a steady stream of expletives, accompanied by flying pots and pans and poor Joel running for cover). I think, probably my biggest “oops” moment was the time I decided to try brioche. Yeah, BIG “oops” there (you know the saying, “when it rains, it pours”?). Now, slowly but surely, I’m getting to the point where “oops” moments are happening less and less frequently for me – I guess that means I’m improving. But every now and then, something will go wrong here and there. I’m only human, right?

So, this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was Bill’s Big Carrot Cake, chosen by Amanda of Slow Like Honey. Well, to be totally honest, I’m not a big fan of carrot cake; its encompasses everything I don’t particularly care for in a dessert- raisins…coconut…nuts. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind nuts in a dessert…but coconut, raisins and nuts – well that’s just too much for me to handle! But who am I to turn down a dessert challenge? Especially when its my second TWD recipe to make….I couldn’t have possibly chickened out on carrot cake! I decided since I wasn’t particularly fond of it, I would just send it to work with Joel the next day. Genius.

Now I know what you’re thinking – “if you don’t like raisins and coconut, why didn’t you just leave them out?” Because Dorie said to put them in there to begin with, that’s why! I don’t care how much I dislike something – if its good enough for Dorie, by gosh, its good enough for me! Obviously, she knows what she’s doing, and I (obviously) don’t. Therefore, if she says it tastes good, that’s how I’m going to make it. Plus, I’m a purist – I like to follow recipes pretty darn closely, and if it tastes bad, well, then I’ll know for next time. So in went the raisins, coconut and walnuts…….

This cake was super easy to make. Throw the ingredients in a bowl, spread it in pans, and you’re done! And can we talk about that cream cheese frosting? – YUM. I think I ate half of it before the cakes were even finished baking!

My house smelled heavenly as the cakes baked away in the oven. After taking them out and letting them cool, it was time to put the cake together! This is where the “oops” comes into play….

The little buggers STUCK! As I inverted the pans onto the plate, something felt wrong. Sure enough, there, on the plate, was half of my cake….the rest was still stuck in the pan. “No big deal”, I figured….I’d just discard that unfortunate layer and just use the other two. Um…..yeah….another “oops”. Long story short, all the cakes stuck….I ended up with a huge mess, and large “chunks” of carrot cake to work with. So, instead of getting mad and throwing it all away, I decided to still take pictures of it. And hey, even if it didn’t look good, we could still have a taste, right? Joel and I each had a large “chunk” of cake slathered with cream cheese frosting (by far, the best part), and I have to say, this cake was pretty yummy, despite my issues with raisins, coconut and nuts.

So, here they are…my wonderful pictures of carrot cake “chunks”. Please don’t disown me, TWD members….have pity on a humble “oops”-prone baker.

Bill’s Big Carrot Cake

Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 carrots, you can grate them in food processor fitted w/ a shredding a blade or use a box grater)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
½ cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden) or dried cranberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs

For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick ( 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound or 3 and ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ½ teaspoon pure lemon extract
½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
Finely chopped toasted nuts and/or toasted shredded coconut (optional)

Getting ready:

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter three 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess. Put the two pans on one baking sheet and one on another.

To make the cake:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir together the carrots, chopped nuts, coconut, and raisins.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and oil together on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the baking pans.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean. The cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

To make the frosting:

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the lemon juice or extract.

If you’d like coconut in the filling, scoop about half of the frosting and stir the coconut into this position.

To assemble the cake:

Put one layer top side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. If you added the coconut to the frosting, use half of the coconut frosting to generously cover the first layer (or generously cover with plain frosting). Use an offset spatula or a spoon to smooth the frosting all the way to the edges of the layer. Top with the second layer, this time placing the cake stop side down, and frost with the remainder of the coconut frosting or plain frosting. Top with the last layer, right side up, and frost the top- and the sides- of the cake. Finish the top with swirls of frosting. If you want to top the cake with toasted nuts or coconut, sprinkle them on now while the frosting is soft.

Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes, just to set the frosting before serving.

Serving:

This cake can be served as soon as the frosting is set. It can also wait, at room temperature and covered with a cake keeper overnight. The cake is best served in thick slices at room temperature and while it’s good plain, it’s even better with vanilla ice cream or some lemon curd.

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