Carrot Cake or Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups canola or other vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots (5 to 6 medium carrots)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, for topping cake

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350º F. Grease a 9x13 pan and line the bottom with parchment paper then grease the top of the paper. Or - grease and flour the bottom and sides of the pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and the cinnamon until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, stirring gently until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in the carrots, nuts and raisins.
Bake until the tops of the cake is springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean - 35 to 45 minutes.
Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack, peel off parchment paper and cool completely.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with a handheld mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the powdered sugar, a 1/4 cup at a time until fluffy. Pour in cream and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Chill covered until ready to frost cake.
When the cake is completely cool, frost the cake and sprinkle with nuts.

Preparing the Cake Pans: Even though it is a bit time consuming, don’t skimp on prepping the pans. It’s never fun to find your cake layer is stuck to the bottom of your pan. (If this does happen to you, leave the cake pan upside down and allow gravity to do its thing).

Carrot Cake Cupcakes: Bake for 14 to 18 minutes (or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean). Then let them cool for a few minutes in the cupcake pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. The recipe should make about 24 cupcakes.