carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

it was my birthday a week ago

planned to sew a birthday dress

like i did for all the past birthdays that happened in my sewing life

but i failed

..

i'm away from my sewing machines for over a month now

spending time with nikola, at his home up in the mountains

and, although i have a sewing machine here

i lack so many silly little sewing things

that i had to stop my work on birthday dress

before i ruin that gorgeous fabric

..

it's cold and snowing outside

nikola is snowboarding
and that's not my thing, at all

i like snowy white frosting better than real snow

and baking is my idea of fun
so i give you cake!
and i'll show you the dress when it's done
(i believe it might be my favorite one ever)

recipe is adapted from this blog post on sophisticated gourmet

for the cake:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

finely grated zest of one orange

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

3/4 cup walnuts (crushed)

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup yogurt

2 large eggs

..

for  the frosting:

300 gr (10.5 oz) cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons butter (at room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

..

preheat oven to 180 C (375 F)

butter 20cm (8 inch) round cake pan

..

in a large bowl mix 

flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon

add orange zest, grated carrots and walnuts, mix to combine

..

in medium bowl mix sugar and oil

add yogurt, mix well, add eggs

..

add egg mixture to flour mixture

gently mix with rubber spatula, until just incorporated

transfer to cake pan

and bake until top is firm, and toothpick inserted into the center

comes out clean, about 40 minutes

..

cool the cake completely

meanwhile, make the frosting:

combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and butter in a bowl

beat with an electric mixer, for few minutes, until smooth

(you may need to add more powdered sugar

to get the right consistency)

..

cut a cake in half horizontally

frost both halves, and stack one on top of the other

(and if you're a bit more patient with all that frosting business than i am

your cake is going to be much more photogenic one)

..

mokosha