Simple Carrot Cake on a Whim

I am calling this cake "Carrot Cake on a Whim" because I made it yesterday evening on a whim. I was really, really craving carrot cake so I decided to make it with whatever ingredients I had on hand. It's a simplified recipe that turned or oh so delicious. From this "re-fashioned" recipe are missing the walnuts and the cinnamon, but I realized I much rather prefer it without the cinnamon. For more flavor, I used the juice of one lemon into the frosting.

Ingredients:

CAKE

3 cups finely grated carrots

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1 cup flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder

FROSTING

1 lemon

4 oz butter

2 packs 12 oz cream cheese

1 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup milk

I mixed the eggs with the sugar, the oil, and the carrots. When everything was quite well blended, I added the flour in which I had previously mixed the baking powder. The batter is on the runny side but it will bake to be moist and fluffy. 

It bakes in a well buttered cake pan or baking sheet at 350F for about 30 minutes. For baking cakes, I always use a large baking sheet. I don't like round cakes, they are difficult to portion and the cake pieces don't always look good on the plate.

After 30 minutes, when a toothpick inserted in the cake came out clean, I removed the cake from the pan onto a cooling rack. When it was cool enough, I measured it and cut it into three.

In the meantime, I made the FROSTING.
I combined into a big mixing bowl the softened butter and cream cheese, the icing sugar, the juice from a lemon, and the milk (the milk makes the frosting more frothy). I beat well with a whisk until creamy. I do not like to use food processors, beaters or any type of kitchen aids in the kitchen. I fell more connected with what I am cooking or baking when doing it the old fashion way.

I spread the icing in between each layer.

I don't know if it was because I was craving carrot cake, but this was one of the best deserts I had in a while. I enjoyed it so much! It is light, not very sweet, it has a very nice consistency. The lemon gives it such a original taste.