I love cake decorating and get lots of compliments on my cakes but they are all Betty Crocker boxed mixes (my Dad worked for General Mills for 48 years so I'm a loyal BC user from away back). I just got an order from a friend for a cake and she wants carrot cake. Uggh!!! Betty Crocker carrot cake isn't available at my local grocery store (but I can source it out) so it isn't a flavour that I use. Would it be suitable (flavour wise etc.) for me to use for this cake or should I try a from scratch cake? Also, do I have to use cream cheese icing on this cake or can I use my usual buttercream? Oh the stress of it all.
Can anyone help me with this? Thanks for reading this and trying to help.
Diane
I agree with ladybug03. If you're used to using boxes the Cake Mix Doctor cookbook is the way to go. They all start with a mix and if I'm not mistaken, her carrot starts with a yellow mix. Check it out. Personally I would go with cream cheese frosting because I LOVE it. I've also had it with vanilla BC and it tasted fine...just not as good as cream cheese 
Good luck!
I'm a big fan of making cakes from scratch and I've been having fabulous luck with all the recipes from the WBH book (not tried the carrot cake recipe though). In any case, there is another book called The Pastry Queen and there is a recipe in there called Tropical Carrot Cake. It has pineapple and macadamia nuts in it and the frosting is a coconut cream cheese icing (smooth - uses cream of coconut, not shredded). That cake is to die for.
If you want to try a great scratch cake Cook's Illustrated has one. You can get the recipe on their site. I think you need to register though. I lve that recipe. The one I use is with the ginger and the orange cream cheese frosting.
I am a loyal user of Betty Crocker. I did a Carrot cake. I did use the carrot cake box mix(2carrot cake and 1 spice cake for 1/2 sheet cake), but I added walnuts, pineapple (used the juice in lu of some of the water), shredded carrots, and golden raisins. I did use a BC on the out side but I did a Cream cheese filling. The only problem I had which I've seen with all carrot cakes is that it was crumbly. But I got rave revues for it's taste.
cCc
Hi!
I had the same problem a few months ago. I only use cake mixes and did not want to try a scratch cake out on a customer. At first I was going to use the carrot cake mix but when I looked at the box it said carrot flavored pieces. 
That didn't sound very good. Instead I used a recipe that someone posted that starts out with a yellow cake mix and adds the other ingredients to it to make it carrot cake. Some people like nuts and raisons, some don't. I just used butercream becuase the cake was a full sheet cake and only one side was carrot the other was white. I wasn't sure how well I could decorate with cream cheese frosting. Here is the recipee, Hope it helps.
1 yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 tbsp. cinnimon
1/3 cup oil
1 8oz. can of crushed pineapple undrained
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup nuts
1 cup raisons
Combine eggs, pinapple, and cinnimon. Add cake mix, oil and stir until blended. stir in carrots, nuts, and raisons. Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes in a greased pan.
i adore carrot cake...i'm experimenting with an alton brown recipe AS I TYPE.....it's in the oven...if it's good, i'll let you know....
previously my favorites are 1)the one off epicurious!!! and the other i like 2) on the back of the box of either betty crocker/duncan hines....it's a box, but you add pineapple, freshly grated carrot, and some other things to make it more 'homemade'y tasting....
but that's probably the one you can't find, huh?
***love orange marmalade as filling! i used to do carrot cake with a lattice-work type top....i'd fill every other triangular diamond with the marmalade, too....makes my mouth water....you could absolutely also try to add a bit of orange zest to your cream cheese icing....
AND....hope this isn't TMI, but alton brown swears that you must grate the carrot by hand.....if you do them in the food processor, they liquefy and knock the balance out of your liquids/dry ingredients.
keep us posted,
Sally
The recipe from Southern Living is foolproof. Many people have used this recipe and have gotten rave reviews. It's great with or without the buttermilk glaze. I would suggest adding a bit more cream cheese to the frosting, because the recipe is quite sweet.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=257583
I always do scratch...so, I can give you a really easy recipe that will not let you down. It is very very moist and can even be carved. Great for stacking as well.
This recipe will give you up to two layers of a 10-inch..so it is enough batter for whatever you decide to do. I have it in my pastry chef book that I keep handy. Let me know if you want to try a scratch cake and I will pm you this recipe. 
I just made a 1/2 sheet carrot cake last week for some customers who "love carrot cake". Their stipulations were that it not contain raisins, pineapple and that it not have "too many" nuts. Oooook. Needless to say, I was worried that they wouldn't like whatever I made, but the report I got back was that the wife said it was, "the best carrot cake" she had ever tasted. YAY!
Here's the recipe. I think there's a very similar one here at CC, too.
http://www.recipezaar.com/119544
Oh, and I used the Crusting Cream Cheese Icing, as well. (Also, found here at CC.)
Good luck!
I understand about not wanting to try out a new cake on a customer, but I have been making this cake for nearly 25 years, and it is as close to no-fail as one can get! As well, it is almost as fast to put together as a box mix. I shred the carrots in my food processor for additional time saving. It is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Easy to make and so moist people rave over it. It is a very traditional carrot cake --none of the extras that have been added over the years. I use a cream cheese frosting as well - which is the traditional frosting for this cake.
*2 cups all purpose flour
*2 cups sugar
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
*3 cups finely shredded carrot
*1 cup cooking oil (does not matter whether using vegetable, canola, sunflower, etc.)
*4 eggs
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Grease and flour pans.
In a mixing bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Add the next 3 ingredients beating with hand-held mixer until combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Turn into pans. Bake 40-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove and cool for ten minutes in pan(s.) Finish complete cooling on wire rack(s.)
Hope whatever you do turns out well for you!
Oh, and I adore Alton and respect every little bit of advice he gives --and agree with his observations regarding shredding in the food processor, but I have found that if I blot the carrots I shredded in paper towles or cheesecloth, it removes the extra moisture very efficiently. I simply don't have time to shred all those carrots by hand! 
I'm sure he hands that task over to his Sous Chef.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your ideas. I don't have time to try everyone's recipes and ideas for this particular cake, but I'm going to print off the whole forum so that I have it when I need it. I'm so scared to try a scratch cake so I may try mariak's suggestion, but I'm very interested in trying the other ideas when I'm not in a pinch and stressed.
Thanks again and I'll most definitely keep you posted on how it goes. Have a great rest of your weekend.
Diane
I make this carrot cake whenever I have a request for one, and have never had anything go wrong when making it and have gotten rave reviews time after time. It's Emeril's recipe and I definately wouldn't choose carrot cake if I had other options, but I really like this cake. To save time, I by the shredded carrots you can get in the produce. I don't like nuts, so I make both the icing and cake without them. I really like the icing, it's very light. There's the crusting cream cheese one on here too.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_20423,00.html?rsrc=search
If you look to the side, you can see the reviews for it to see what others have to say about it. HTH
The Pinapple doesn't seem to add too much flavor. It's more for texture and Moistness. IMHO
I personally like it.
cCc
If you don't want one with fresh carrots, here's a recipe by Paula Deen that uses baby food.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36302,00.html?rsrc=search
showed up at College football party with my carrot cake/AB style. here's what i learned:
half the people LOVED it....
the other half, including ME, said-'hmmm, it's okay, but it's missing nuts, raisins, etc.'
there is clearly a division of carrot cakers who like their 'extras' and those that don't......i guess one would have to know their audience, or bake to the lesser ingredients side....
i should have known...i like my cookies, quick breads and brownies with nuts.....my husband doesn't.....
isn't God funny putting us together like this....
Sally
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