Best carrot cake recipe with baby food carrots

The BEST Carrot Cake (Made with Baby Food)

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

The BEST Carrot Cake – recipe from Full Moon BBQ in Birmingham, AL. This cake is super moist and the cream cheese frosting is to-die-for! I don’t even like carrot cake and I ate a HUGE slice of this cake! The secret ingredient in this cake is baby food. I know it sounds weird but it adds so much moisture and you don’t have any chunks of carrots in the cake. Flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, eggs, oil, baby food, cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar. Can make the cake up to a week in advance. This is PERFECT for the holidays!

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Full Moon BBQ Carrot Cake Recipe

This recipe is from Full Moon BBQ in Birmingham, AL. Their carrot cake is the BEST. They published the recipe many many years ago in the paper and a friend recently sent me a copy. Woohoo! I immediately made the cake, and it did not disappoint. It is honestly the BEST carrot cake I’ve ever eaten. The cake is super moist and the cream cheese frosting is to-die-for!

How to Make Carrot Cake with Baby Food

The secret ingredient in this cake is baby food. I know it sounds weird but it adds so much moisture and you don’t have any chunks of carrots in the cake. To make the cake from scratch, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, eggs, oil, and baby food. Mix well with a hand-held mixer and pour into three cake pans and bake. While the cakes are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting. Combine softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Once the cakes are cooled, frost them with the frosting and coat the cake with chopped pecans, if desired.

Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

I used Gerber 2nd Foods Carrot Baby Food. The original recipe used Gerber Stage 3 Carrots. They discontinued that product, so I went with the 2nd Foods.
I made this cake in three 8-inch cake pans. The cakes can be baked in any pan you wish, you will just have to adjust the cooking times.
You can make the cakes in advance and store them in an air-tight container overnight before frosting.
The baked cake layers can be frozen for later. When ready to frost the cake, thaw the cake layers and add the frosting.
Can carrot cake be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the frosted cake for later. Remove the cake from the freezer and let thaw on the countertop at least an hour before serving. The cake will keep 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
Can I personalize the cake? Sure! You can add nuts, golden raisins, or sweetened coconut to the batter. Also, feel free to add some orange extract or zest to the cream cheese frosting.
I coated the whole cake with chopped pecans. This is completely optional. You can coat just the top, just the sides, or none of the cake.
Store the frosted cake in the refrigerator. I take the cake out about 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
Leftover carrot cake will keep 2 to 3 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
A decorated and uncut cake will keep up to a week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Easy Dessert for the Holidays

This cake is a real show stopper. The three layers look so impressive when you cut into the cake. Not only is this cake impressive, but it is also DELICIOUS! I am not a big fan of carrot cake, but I can eat a giant piece of this cake! Make sure you have lots of friends to share this cake with, otherwise you might eat the whole thing yourself!

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Recipe

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The BEST Carrot Cake

Author: Plain Chicken

Yield: 12 people

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 40 mins

The BEST Carrot Cake EVER! This cake is super moist and the cream cheese frosting is to-die-for! I don't even like carrot cake and I ate a HUGE slice of this cake! The secret ingredient in this cake is baby food. I know it sounds weird but it adds so much moisture and you don't have any chunks of carrots in the cake. Flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, eggs, oil, baby food, cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar. Can make the cake up to a week in advance. This is PERFECT for the holidays!

8-inch Round Cake Pan
Hand Mixer
Kitchen-Aid Mixer

Cake

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2½ cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 (4-oz) jars carrot baby food (Gerber Stage 2)

Frosting

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese room temperature
1 stick butter room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
chopped pecans for garinish

Cake

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the cake. Mix well with a hand-held mixer. Divide the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Allow cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pans and then remove from pans and cool completely.
Once the cakes have cooled, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Garnish cake with chopped pecans, if desired.

Frosting

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
Mix with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy.

I used Gerber 2nd Foods Carrot Baby Food. The original recipe used Gerber Stage 3 Carrots. They discontinued that product, so I went with the 2nd Foods.
I made this cake in three 8-inch cake pans. The cakes can be baked in any pan you wish, you will just have to adjust the cooking times.
You can make the cakes in advance and store them in an air-tight container overnight before frosting.
The baked cake layers can be frozen for later. When ready to frost the cake, thaw the cake layers and add the frosting.
You can freeze the frosted cake for later. Remove the cake from the freezer and let thaw on the countertop at least an hour before serving. The cake will keep 2 to 3 months in the freezer.
You can add nuts, golden raisins, or sweetened coconut to the batter. Also, feel free to add some orange extract or zest to the cream cheese frosting.
I coated the whole cake with chopped pecans. This is completely optional. You can coat just the top, just the sides, or none of the cake.
Store the frosted cake in the refrigerator. I take the cake out about 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
Leftover carrot cake will keep 2 to 3 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
A decorated and uncut cake will keep up to a week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @plainchicken or tag #plainchicken!

Steph

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Baby Food Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Diana Rattray

Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.

Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process

Updated on 11/17/21

BRETT STEVENS / Getty Images

This may have never occurred to you before, but baby food makes for a great secret ingredient in cake, especially in this carrot cake. Half the struggle with making carrot cake is all that grating of carrots. But using jars of baby food instead of grated carrots makes this recipe super easy to prepare and bake—it's a bit of genius. Plus, it tastes great, with lots of pronounced carrot flavor.

The recipe calls for carrot baby food, or a combination of carrot, apricot, and apple baby food. You can also use pears, too. Feel free to play with the balance of ingredients if you want to use the natural sweetness of fruit purees.

Note: This cake recipe is NOT meant for babies. Baby food is simply an ingredient.

3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 junior-size jars baby food carrots, or 1 small jar each of carrots, applesauce, and apricots

For the Frosting:

2 tablespoons margarine, or unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk, or more as needed

Heat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, mix eggs, sugar, and oil together until well blended.
Add the dry ingredients and vanilla extract and beat until just blended.
Fold in the baby food.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream together the margarine (or butter) and cream cheese at medium speed.
On low speed, add the confectioners' sugar and the milk.
Mix until smooth and creamy. Add more milk as needed to create a spreadable frosting.

Variations

Carrot cake is also delicious with some of the following optional ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans folded into the batter, or 1 cup walnut or pecan halves used for garnish on top of the cake
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut sprinkled on top of the frosted cake
1/2 cup raisins folded into the batter
1 small can of crushed pineapple in its juices
Additional spices such as ginger, cloves, allspice and/or nutmeg

How to Store and Freeze Baby Food Carrot Cake

This cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. You can refrigerate it if desired, but it may dry out a little bit.

Carrot cake will freeze well if wrapped (try it in individual slices) in foil and placed in a zip-close freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Cake will keep for up to 6 months, but the sooner you consume it, the better.

Crunch Into Spring With These Carrot Recipes

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5 recipes for carrot cake / For those who love healthy pastries - an article from the "How to cook" section on Food.ru

1. Classic carrot cake

Carrot cake is loved for its unusual taste, clear cooking technology and simple ingredients. The main one among them is in every kitchen - carrots chopped with a grater or blender.

Carrot biscuit is not too sweet and bakes easily. The cake is elastic, even slightly springy, of a cheerful orange color.

Tip

Use a blender or the finest side of a grater to chop vegetables. Long carrot shavings are not suitable for baking: the consistency will be heterogeneous, and the cake may not be baked.

Benefits of carrot dessert

it is low-calorie: even the most “fatty” version with sugar and white flour is lighter than a classic dessert;
carrots contain carotene, the main food source of vitamin A;
nuts perfectly satisfy hunger, contain a lot of protein and antioxidants, lower cholesterol.

2. Diet with almonds

Carrot cake prepared according to this recipe will suit everyone who is worried about their figure. Even nutritionists and fitness trainers approve of it. It is also suitable for the children's menu as a healthy sweet.

To lighten the KBZhU of the finished dish, we slightly change the classic recipe:

replace heavy cream with 10% sour cream or Greek yogurt;
instead of walnuts, take less high-calorie almonds or cashews;
sugar alternative - any honey, cane sugar or sweet maple syrup;
regular white flour can be substituted with whole grain, rice or almond flour without affecting the taste. You can completely eliminate this ingredient by replacing it with fiber or oatmeal ground in a coffee maker.

Tip

The diet version of carrot cake is more like a cupcake. If you are worried that such a dessert will be dry, soak the cake with strong black tea. Refrain from additional decorations, cream and glaze - they add calories.

3. Autumn version with spices

Good carrots can be found in Russia at any time of the year. But in the harvest season, the pie will be especially on the table. The bright color lifts the mood and reminds you of summer, and the spicy taste warms you from the inside.

To prepare this cake, add dried apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg and dry ginger to the dough. Lubricate the finished biscuit with butter cream of sour cream and sugar. Decorate with dried apples and pears or a sprig of physalis.

Orange juice (to give sourness), crushed ginger root (for spice), coconut flakes or poppy seeds will also add a special flavor to the biscuit.

Tip

If the crushed carrot has too much juice, squeeze it into a glass. If, on the contrary, it turned out to be too dry, a little sugar syrup can be added to the mixture.

4. Carrot cake for a special occasion

The classic carrot cake recipe is good for its simplicity. Its preparation takes no more than half an hour. At the same time, it can become the basis for a real work of culinary art - a multi-layered birthday cake. A healthy dessert prepared with your own hands is in no way inferior to any store-bought version, neither in taste nor in beauty.

For cooking, you need a little more dough - for several cakes. Biscuit according to any of the above recipes must be cooled and cut into several pieces with a knife or culinary fishing line.

Stack the cakes on top of each other, alternating with cream. Carrots go great with creamy flavors or cream cheese. To prepare a tender layer, you can take fat-free cottage cheese, mascarpone cheese and mix them with a banana or pineapple.

Place the tall carrot cake in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. During this time, the biscuit will soak, and the cream will become denser. It remains to decorate the dessert with the rest of the cream, almonds, hazelnuts, strawberries or figs. Tiny tangerines or orange mini-carrots from confectionery mastic look spectacular on such a cake.

Tip

Sweet potatoes can be added to the dough. This sweet potato is more suitable for confectionery than as a side dish for meat. In baking, it tastes like a baked apple. A medium-sized sweet potato needs to be baked in the oven at a temperature of 180℃ for about 40 minutes. Cool, mash with a fork in mashed potatoes and add to the dough.

5. No Bake Raw Carrot Cake

Allergy sufferers and vegans will take a deep breath after reading the material. A healthy dessert, but on nuts and eggs, which can not be consumed by everyone. Alina offers a variant of such a cake without animal ingredients, lactose and gluten.

The girl replaced the usual flour with coconut flour, completely excluded butter, eggs and sugar. And as a filling uses a delicate cashew cream. But the main thing is that you don’t have to turn on the oven to make this carrot cake. It is prepared without baking.

What can be done?

Prepare other vegetable desserts. For example, zucchini jam, beetroot muffins, pumpkin pancakes, or sweet potato flan.

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10 bakeries in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The best pastries of the two capitals
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90,000 Carrot Pie "Hold the children!", A step -by -step recipe for 1135 kcal, photo, ingredients

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