A gray sky may be a food photographer’s greatest enemy, but it is certainly the perfect setting to stay home and just bake!

On one of those days, I baked this carrot cake with chopped walnuts, shredded coconuts and dried blueberries. The cake turned out to be moist and very light. I added blueberries instead of raisins and have to say that it definitely works better. Also, a tablespoon of ground ginger makes all the difference.

I cut down on the sugar a lot because of the super sweet frosting and the coconut flakes. Just yum.

This cake is also perfect for the upcoming Sugar High Friday “The Beta Carotene Harvest” event Leslie is hosting. She will post the round-up on the 30th, so make sure to visit her blog.

Happy Monday everyone!

Carrot Cake

Ingredients – Cake

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of salt
• 3 oz butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup dried blueberries

Ingredients – Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 oz butter, at room temperature
• 11 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Method – Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).
2. Butter and flour a 9×2 inch cake pan and set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
4. In another bowl, mix the grated carrots with chopped walnuts, shredded coconuts and blueberries.
5. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until softened (2 minutes).
6. Add sugar and beat until smooth.
7. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Add the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until combined.
9. Stir in the carrot mixture and pour the batter in the prepared cake pan.
10. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
11. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes. Invert and cool to room temperature.

Method – Frosting

1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until softened (2 minutes).
2. Add cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat (preferably with the whisk attachment) until smooth.
3. Apply frosting with an offset spatula.