I Bake a Carrot Cake Once a Year
I am a nostalgic person. I see my past through a lens imbued with a rose-colored tint—wistfully yearning for the time when my kids were babies and any other significant life events. I am almost always living in a state of nostalgia, and while this can be exhausting, I've come to accept this is just ME. After all, I bronzed my kid's baby shoes and had paper cutouts of their profiles framed.
After my third child, August, was born, a good friend baked me a cake.
She and her two boys brought it over to me on a blue glass plate.
Extra frosting on the side sealed tight in a mason jar and blueberries on top in the shape of a letter A for August.
This cake is “the cake”— the one I still bake once a year—six years later—only on August’s birthday.
Was it the warm gesture of my friend—or the eating of the cake that happened while nursing my 3-day-old at 3 AM —leaning over the counter, fork in one hand, baby latched on the other side?
Maybe it was the moment in time that made the cake so special? That beautiful time after you have a baby is so dear it leaves a significant mark on your heart; you’d grasp anything that can bring you back there, even if it’s just a cake.
The cake my friend baked me 6 years ago
I am sharing my special carrot cake recipe below.
Love,
Jaclyn
P.S.
It’s sugar-free and DELICIOUS!
Carrot cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened plus extra for greasing the pans
3 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup honey
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F Line the bottom of TWO 9 inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the sides with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, use an ELECTRIC mixer to mix the butter, honey, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture with the mixer on low until combined. The batter will be fairly thick at this point. Next, fold in the applesauce and carrots.
Divide the batter evenly between two cake pans and bake for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center layer comes clean. Let the cakes cool before removing them.
WHIPPED CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING
2 cups heavy whipping cream
ONE 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup PURE maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Use and electric mixer to whip together cream cheese, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Don’t panic if it’s not thick at first gradually increase the speed and keep mixing, it will eventually thicken up!
When the cakes have cooled to room temperature, (sometimes I leave them overnight before frosting) carefully transfer them to a large plate or cake stand.
6. When the cakes have cooled apply the first layer of frosting on top of ONE cake, then put the other cake on top of the frosted cake and frost the rest. Smother it on.
7. Add blueberries to the top in a design of your choice. I usually do a number or letter and sometimes just a border.
sixth birthday cake
Recipe by Lisa Leake from the book 100 Days of Real Food
