How to bake a carrot cake

First, begin by selecting the recipe of your choice!

For the purpose of this demonstration I have selected a carrot cake and cream cheese frosting from The Southern Living Cookbook.

Start by purchasing the ingredients from your grocery store of choice.

Then, we you are ready to begin baking place all of your ingredients in an area that is readily accessible.

Also, place any needed utensils close to the ingredients.

Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start prepping your ingredients by washing off the carrots.

Then, grate the carrots.

Measure out 3 cups of grated carrots and place them in a mixing bowl.

Measure out 2 cups of all-purpose flour.

Place 2 cups of all-purpose flour into the mixing bowl with the grated carrots.

Next, measure out 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Then, add the baking powder into the mixing bowl with the carrots and all-purpose flour.

Next, measure out 2 teaspoons of baking soda.

Then, add the baking soda to the mixing bowl with grated carrots, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Next, measure out 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Then, add the salt to the mixing bowl with the previous 4 ingredients.

Next, measure out 2 cups of sugar.

Then, add the sugar to the mixing bowl with the previous 5 ingredients.

Lastly, measure out 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Finally, add the ground cinnamon to the mixing bowl with the previous 6 ingredients.

Stir the first 7 ingredients until they are mixed well. Do not expect the mixture to be smooth. At this step the mixture should still be clumpy.

In a separate bowl beat 4 eggs wells.

Stir the eggs into the mixing bowl with the previous 7 ingredients.

Then, measure out 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil.

Also, measure out 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Add both the vegetable oil and the vanilla extract into the cake batter with the previous ingredients. Mix the batter well.

Grab a paper towel and place it around your hand. Dip the paper towel in the crisco and then spread the crisco on the two pans you are going to use to bake the cake.

Add a small amount of flour into the greased pan and smooth the flour so that there are no clumps. This step helps prevent the cakes from sticking to the pans.

Place the cakes into the center of the oven.

Set a timer for 30 minutes.

Then, grab two toothpicks to test the cakes.

Place the toothpick in the center of the cake and then remove it. If the toothpick comes out clean then the cake is done baking. If the toothpick is not clean, then place it back in the oven.

When the cakes are finished baking, remove them from the oven to cool.

Set another timer for 10 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before placing them on wire racks to cool completely.

After 10 minutes, flip the cakes onto the wire racks and allow the cakes to cool completely.

Wait until the cakes are completely cool before you begin making the icing. Start by grabbing the ingredients you need to make the cream cheese frosting.

Also, grab the utensils you will need to make the cream cheese frosting.

Begin making the frosting by measuring 16 ounces of powdered sugar. (16 ounces is typically the amount in one box.)

Sift 16 ounces of powder sugar to so they there are no clumps in the powder sugar. This step is important so that the icing will be smooth.

The sifted powdered sugar should have no clumps when you are finished.

Pecans can also be added the frosting if you would like.

Finely chop 1 cup of pecans. These can be added to the frosting prior to being applied to the cake, but I prefer to add them as a garnish.

Allow an 8 ounce package of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of butter to soften before mixing.

Add cubes of cream cheese and butter into the mixing bowl.

Combine cream cheese and butter until the mixture is smooth.

Slowly add in the sifted powdered sugar into the mixing bowl.

Lastly, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract into the icing.

Beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

Place the base layer of the cake onto a cake container base.

Start icing the top of the base layer.

Then add the top layer and ice it as well.

Finish by icing the sides of both layers. It's okay if the icing is not perfectly smooth because with pecans will cover most of the icing.

Cover the icing will pecans or however you prefer to add them.

Finish by cleaning up the sides of the container with a wet paper towel to remove any access icing or pecans. Enjoy!