14 Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

My mom's favorite cake has always been carrot cake. This is her mother's recipe. I make it every year for my mom's birthday. I have also tried the recipe as cupcakes and they turned out just as good.
The people that eat this tell me that they don't like carrot cake, but love this one. It's moist and tasty! You can't even taste the carrots in it.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cooking oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups grated carrots (about 4 large carrots)
4 large eggs

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and mix well. Add eggs one a time, mixing well after each addition. Add carrots. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick tests dry.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 stick margarine (soft)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 8 ox package of cream cheese, softened
pinch of salt (takes away the powdery taste)

Directions:
Mix together. Frost center and sides of the cake. Ad chopped nuts and coconut to icing for cake top, if desired.

Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

I hosted a baby shower for my cousin and had so much fun making things! Today, I made these crazy chocolate cupcakes with a homemade strawberry buttercream frosting. It was my first time making them and they turned out delicious!

My favorite cake has always been the crazy chocolate cake from the family recipe cookbook. This goes back in my family for years. I have never made them as cupcakes though. I gave them a shot.

Cake Ingredients:
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons of sugar
6 Tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup oil or melted shortening
2 Tablespoons vinegar
2 1/2 cups cold water
2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
In a mixer, blend the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients one at a time. Blend together just long enough so that the flour is incorporated. Probably like two minutes on a medium low setting. Don't over mix. When you do, your cake becomes crumbly. The batter can either be runny, or slightly thick. Either way, the cake will turn out every single time.
If you are making a 9x13 cake, cook for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserting it into the center. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the cupcakes, pour the batter so that it's 3/4 of the way full in a cupcake liner. Bake for 18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. This batch will make about 24 cupcakes. Cool completely before frosting.

For the yummy strawberry buttercream frosting:
I used Martha Stewart's Recipe and then added the flavoring I wanted. I just used the candy flavoring from the cake decorating aisle.

Ingredients:
4 sticks of butter, softened
6 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt (takes away the powdery flavor)
2 small drops of strawberry candy flavoring
pink food coloring

Directions:
Put butter in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce to medium and add sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until well combined, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla, salt, flavoring, and food coloring and mix for about a minute until well combined.

This frosting recipe seriously makes the best frosting for cupcakes!