Mmm, Mmm Monday-The Best Carrot Cake EVER

I'm not exaggerating. This really is the best carrot cake ever, says the lady who doesn't even like carrot cake. Most of the recipes I share on the blog are the easy, somewhat healthy recipes of a working mom. This is not one of them.

I first tasted this cake at work, when a coworker brought it in. I wasn't too psyched about it, because, like I said, I don't really like carrot cake. But it was in celebration of someone's birthday and it felt rude not to partake in the celebration. I am so happy I did not miss out on this cake! I decided to make it on my own and found that it was a little labor intensive, but the final product was a moist, delicious crowd-pleasing cake that was worth every ounce of effort.

I made this cake for Easter and it was just as delicious as the first time. There's a leftover piece in my refrigerator right now, just waiting to be eaten once the kids go to bed. ;)

These are the ingredients you will need for the cake. The glaze and frosting are another set of ingredients. Yeah, it's a lot, but it's worth it. You'll need vegetable oil, buttermilk, sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla, eggs, crushed pineapple cinnamon, pecans (or walnuts), coconut, and carrots.

Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax pans over the wax paper.  Stir the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot, pineapple, coconut, and pecans.  Pour evenly into the three pans and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.


While the cake is baking, make the buttermilk glaze.

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup butter, and 1 tbsp. light corn syrup in a large Dutch oven. I don't have a Dutch oven, so I did mine in a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring often for 4 minutes. Remove from heat, then add 1 tsp. of vanilla.

 Once the cakes are out of the oven, pour the glaze evenly over the layers. Leave them in the pan for 15 minutes. The glaze will soak into the cake layers, making them moist and super yummy. I like to poke holes in my layers with a fork before I pour the glaze on top. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I like to think so. :)

After 15 minutes, remove the cakes from the pans. This is messy, but the best method I have found is to run a knife along the edges, then place a sheet of wax paper on top of the cake, then place another wire rack on top. Flip the entire thing over, so that the cake slides out of the pan and onto the wax paper covered rack. Peel off the wax paper that was on the bottom of the pan. Then, repeat the flipping with the other wire rack so the cake is now resting on its bottom, ready to cool completely. You will still get sticky cake all over the wax paper, but that's easily lickable, er, disposable. ;)

Once the layers are completely cooled, frost the cake, and in between each layer, with cream cheese frosting. To make the frosting, beat 3/4 cup softened butter and 11 ounces softened cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add 3 cups powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and beat until smooth. You can sift the sugar if you're fancy, but I'm not fancy and it came out fine.

 You can top the cake with coconut or chopped nuts, or just keep it clean. Either way, you will love this cake and so will anyone else lucky enough to get a piece.

The Best Carrot Cake Ever
Recipe from Southern Living 

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8 ounce) can crush pineapple, drained
1 (3 1/2 can) flaked coconut*
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 
 *I had a bag of coconut and used a little less than 1/2 cup

Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax pans over the wax paper.  Stir the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.  Set aside. Beat eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixtures, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot, pineapple, coconut, and pecans.  Pour evenly into the three pans and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Drizzle buttermilk glaze evenly over layers.  Cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Buttermilk Glaze: 
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, baking soda, buttermilk, butter, and corn syrup in a large Dutch oven. Bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring often for 4 minutes. Remove from heat, then add vanilla.

Cream Cheese Frosting: 
3/4 cup butter, softened
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. This makes plenty of frosting, so don't be afraid to frost the layers with plenty of frosting!

Easter 2013

We had such a wonderful Easter! We are so blessed to have our family around us that absolutely love our girls.  Our Easter celebrations began last weekend when we spent Palm Sunday with my in-laws.  The girls had an Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday, then we went to church and had lunch with Mimi and Papa.  The rain forced us to hold our festivities inside, but that didn't slow the girls down one bit.

Today, the girls woke up bright and early to find special surprises from the Easter Bunny.  After they played with their new treasures, we headed off to church. We decided to keep Sophia with us instead of having her go to the nursery and I was so proud of how well she did in church.  She was a little wiggly, but nothing too bad.

After church, we headed out to my parents' house for dinner and celebrations with my family. We continued our tradition of an Easter pinata, and the girls LOVED it! They really attacked it this year! It was so much fun to see how much they've grown from last year.  The rain hit us again, but we had fun anyway.

 I hope your Easter was filled with love and family! Thank you Lord, for today, and every day!

Dying Eggs, Stegner Style

Dying eggs is getting much more fun now that both girls are able to participate. Of course, they don't have the patience to wait for the eggs to color, but they love the process. Tonight we all had a good time dying our eggs and found a way to make the time pass more quickly.

Spring Pictures

It's no secret that I love taking pictures of my girls. They've had a camera in their faces since their very first breath. Therein lies my problem.  The girls are so sick of having their picture taken that they run, literally run, from the camera. Emma hasn't actually looked at the camera for a picture in about two years. I wish you could see what goes on behind the scenes to get her to look in my direction. On second thought, no, I don't, because I act all kinds of foolish to trick her into taking a decent picture.

Needless to say, posed pictures just don't happen. My girls do not sit and take pictures, but as their mother, it is my natural born right to subject them to a "photo shoot" now and then.  When Andy hears me say "I'm going to take pictures of the girls," he tries to find something, anything, else to do. He usually gets sucked into being my helper and it's just not pretty.

I haven't taken pictures of the girls since last May and I really needed some new ones. So I took the girls out, one at a time (it just works better), and took some pictures.

And why pictures with both girls don't work well...

Easter, Part Two

After yesterday's busy day, the girls slept in a little this morning.  As soon as they woke up, we went downstairs to see where the Easter Bunny hid their baskets. They were so excited!  Both girls are old enough to have fun doing things like this, even though Sophia doesn't really understand. She just has a great time following her sister around.

Sophia got a bath drum, a tea set for the bath, crayons, chalk, a flashy ball, a book, and a new towel.

Emma got a watering can, a book, a hat, Reese's Pieces, a chocolate bunny, a doctor's kit, and a new towel. She also got new underwear in her eggs. ;)

I was so nervous about the church service today because it was going to be longer than usual and ran through snack time and into lunch time, but luckily Sophia fell asleep and slept through most of the service. Emma was antsy and wanted to be held too, but all in all, they both did great.

After church we headed over to my in-laws' house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. They girls were pretty hungry and loved the yummy dinner Mimi had made.

They both got more treats from Mimi and Papa. They got the cutest boxes of animal crackers! Lilly Pulitzer designed the box and they were so pretty.

After lunch, the girls had an egg hunt and we tried to take a few pictures.  A family picture of the four of us was a no go, but we did manage to get one of the girls and their grandparents.

We all came home and took naps and had a quiet dinner. Now the girls are in bed and Andy and I are going to watch The Amazing Race to wrap up our busy weekend!

I hope you all had a blessed Easter!

Easter, Part One

We kicked off our busy Easter weekend with a quiet morning at home.  After breakfast, we let the girls (well, Emma) dye their eggs.  We only did a few because no one really eats them. Emma loved mixing the colors and dropping her eggs in.  She is so neat that we don't really worry about her making a mess. That's a great thing because dying Easter eggs makes me nervous! I'm sure that when it's Sophia's turn we will be doing this outside!

After lunch we headed out to my parents' house for a pre-Easter dinner and celebration. The girls got tons of goodies and were thrilled with their baskets.

The girls also had an Easter egg hunt and they both loved looking for eggs.  This was Sophia's first year participating in an egg hunt and although she liked the search, she didn't understand why she had to put the egg she just worked so hard to find in a basket, just to look for another. Ha!

Emma is an old pro at egg hunts and didn't waste any time getting right to work.  Occasionally, she needed some help, and Papa was happy to oblige.

Once all the eggs were found, the girls had a blast with a new tradition...a pinata! The girls' aunties filled the pinata to the brim with Goldfish, graham crackers, bracelets, and other goodies. Watching them have such a great time hacking into that thing was the best part of the night!

After all the festivities, we all stuffed ourselves with this adorable (and delicious) cake made by Aunt Kimi. Isn't it cute?

These sweet babies make me so happy and we are so incredibly blessed to have so many people love them!