Packed with raisins, pecans and puréed carrots, this is a tasty way to enjoy a serving (or two) of carrots!

Living out in bush Alaska, there are certain ingredients that are a luxury in our pantry – like cream cheese. With recent outdoor temperatures agreeably mimicking a nicely chilled fridge, it was time to mail order dairy items requiring colder temperatures. Our here in Chignik Lake, Alaska, we’ve been relying heavily on the wonderful services of the mail order department at the Anchorage Fred Meyer (Debarr store). About every two weeks, we email a grocery list to the store and within four to five days, we receive  our items carefully wrapped or zip-top bagged for a nominal packing fee. A few weeks ago, we received heavy whipping cream, cream cheese and sour cream all nicely chilled in the belly of a little bush plane. Culinary feats take a bit of planning ahead, but with the cooperating weather, we can get most of what we need out here in tiptop condition. I can’t speak highly enough of our mail order friends in the Debarr Fred Meyer store!

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I periodically bake for my students. This has now become a time-honored tradition that has followed me through several schools. Last week, one of my students requested a cake for our “bake sale” (students can spend tickets they earn in class on a variety of rewards, including my baked creations). After my students polished off a bag of trail mix packed with raisins and nuts last week, I was confident that a carrot cake stuffed with nuts and raisins would be healthful and would be well-received by my young customers. Ok, and I like carrot cake, too, so I picked up my trusty Williams-Sonoma Baking Book to see what they had to say on the subject. Every recipe I’ve tried in this book has come out fantastically. The carrot cake recipe looked delicious. The one difference I noticed is that it called for puréed instead of shredded carrots. Pumpkin purée is a favorite, so why not a purée of carrots? Turns out the purée adds more moisture and the carrot flavor is slightly sweeter. I modified the recipe a bit and was highly pleased with the result. The cake was moist and smooth. The texture was only improved by the chopped nuts and raisins. What did the students say? They loved it! They especially liked the spice and the frosting, of course. If you won’t believe the kids, all the adults I shared the cake with agreed it was delicious!

Spiced Carrot Cake with Rich Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• generous pinch salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mace (or substitute nutmeg)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/3 firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped coarse
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• cream cheese frosting (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Boil carrots until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.
2. Purée the carrots with a blender, stick blender or food processor. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180° C). Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and mace.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, milk and butter.
6. Whisk the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
7. Whisk in the carrot purée.
8. Fold in the pecans and raisins.
9. Pour batter into square baking pan.
10. Bake 45 – 50 minutes in preheated oven. Cake will be lightly browned and wooden pick inserted into middle of cake will come out clean when cake is done.
11. Let cake cool on a wire rack.
12. Run a knife around edge of pan. Invert cake onto serving plate. Peel off parchment paper.
13. Frost cake and serve right away.

Rich Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Using a mixer, beat all the frosting ingredients on medium speed until mixture is totally smooth and well-mixed.
2. Alternatively, hand-mix all the frosting ingredients until smooth and totally mixed using a rubber spatula.