The BEST Carrot Cake EVER!

A Happy Easter to you, my friends! In this Saturday edition of Two Hot Buns...I'll be sharing the BEST carrot cake recipe that I have ever had. I got it from Food Network. I don't know why I was hunting for it or how I found it...but as my mom might say..."It was a God thing."

 Haha... seriously though,

it's called Spring Celebration Carrot Cake. You can find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/spring-celebration-carrot-cake-recipe/index.html

I've made it about 5 times and every time, I am tempted to eat the whole thing! This would be perfect for an Easter celebration or Mother's Day!

Start by buttering and greasing two square pans. Oh yeah, and put parchment paper in there and butter that too!

Make sure you put a generous amount of flour in there and swirl it all around the bottom and sides. Like this...

No sticking here! Okay, now take 1 1/2 C of freshly grated carrot, 1 C of walnut pieces, 1/2 C freshly chopped pineapple, and 1/2 C of flour and mix them around in a bowl. I must pause in order to tell you of the importance of FRESH carrot and pineapple. I mean, honestly...it DOES make a difference. It will just send this cake over the moon, around Saturn, over to Jupiter....you get the idea. It is awesome. No exceptions.

Now in another bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 C flour, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp baking powder.

Like so!

In ANOTHER bowl....yes, this recipe is bowl intensive. 

Also...I did NOT get sore grating the carrots. Did you hear me? This soreness in my arms is from my 3 hour workout yesterday. Oh wait...no, that was probably a workout that my fitness model friend did...

not me.

 (She works sooo hard! And has the bod to prove it. If you want a bod like hers...you probably shouldn't be eating this cake all the time...you should probably go look at her recipes and tips!)

So, like I said...I'm sore for some unknown reason. 

Okay, so where was I...

In another bowl, mix 4 eggs and 1 1/2 C sugar until fluffy. (Around 5 min.)

After you've beat the eggs and sugar...while slowly mixing...add 1 1/4 C vegetable oil and your secret weapon: 4 oz. of pureed carrot baby food. It will keep your cake moist and yummy. Also, you could probably cut down the oil a little...but I do not take any risks because this cake was just the perfect cake the first time I made it. I am a rule follower, people.

Almost ready to bake it! Oh! by the way...set your oven to 350 degrees. You're almost there! Now scatter the dry ingredients over the wet ones. Don't worry if your batter seems runny. It will be. Gently fold them in and then fold in your pineapple/walnut/carrot/flour mixture.

Told you it was kinda runny...

Evenly pour the batter into the two pans and hit them against the counter to get any little air bubbles out. 

Now bake at 350 for about 35-45 min. I did mine for 35 and I thought they came out a little dark. But, my oven is weird. Also, they should be pretty dark because of all your spices and stuff. 

See...pretty dark....don't worry. It is tasty! Let it cool for about 10 min. in the pan. Then flip them out onto a rack to cool completely.

Okay, don't hate me...but I totally forget to take pics of the vanilla/lemon/cream cheese frosting. Let's pause for a moment of silence....

YUM! May this icing be the best vanilla/lemon/cream cheese frosting you've ever had. Amen.

Beat 2 pkg. of cream cheese (room temp) until fluffy. Add in 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter. (room temp) Mix it in really well. Scrape those sides people! Now, add in 2 C of powdered sugar. Beat it until it's mixed real nice and smooth like. Now add the zest of two lemons and 1 tsp of vanilla. Whip it together until light and fluff-tastic.

Let it chill in the fridge for at least 20 min.

To assemble this masterpiece:

- Place one cake on the stand...add half the frosting.

-Add some chopped pineapple on top of the frosting.

- Lay the other cake layer on top of that.

- Add the last of the frosting and more pineapple.

- Serve.

- Let others compliment you and tell you this is the best cake ever...even if they never liked carrot cake.

Seriously.

Enjoy!

Spicy Baked Captain Crunch Chicken Fingers

   Okay, this is one of my favorite recipes and technically...it's not a "baked good"....but I do bake it in the oven, so I figure that's good enough. (Especially since I haven't posted anything in about a year! Yikes...sorry about that!)
    I don't know when I discovered this recipe, but it's been a few years. The following is my version of a few that I've found on the web. Before you start, let me tell you... it's the perfect mixture of sweet, crunch, savory, and spicy. Without further delay, I present Spicy Baked Captain Crunch Chicken Fingers!

First, you need 2 1/2 - 3 C of that good 'ole, cut-up-the-roof-of-your-mouth cereal: Captain Crunch.

To that, add in about 1 1/2 C of Corn Flakes to that and crush it up. You could use a food processor, if you're fancy like that. I use a bag. So there!

In a bowl, mix together 1 C flour, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of black pepper and some crushed red pepper (depending on your heat tolerance...remember that the sweetness will help cut the heat too).

While you're preparing your ingredients, go ahead and preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Also, find one of your baking sheets. I don't really know if you're supposed to put a cooling rack in the oven, but thefatlete and I have been baking on ours for over a year now. No harm here! Plus, it really helps make your baked delights stay crunchy.

In another small bowl, mix one egg and about 1 C of milk.

So now you have your flour dredge, your egg dredge, and your cereal dredge. Now,  wait a dredge minute! I want to warn you that you might want to go back up and, instead of mixing the spices with the flour, mix them with the cereal. I think I did this last time and I liked it better. It's up to you though. It'll taste good no matter what!

So...I forgot to take a picture when I was dredging the chicken. Or maybe I didn't forget; maybe my hands were covered with eggy mush. Yeah, that was it. Anyway, I used about 1 lb. of organic chicken tenders. Yes, I used organic chicken AND Captain Crunch. Maybe I'm a contradiction...but at least I'm trying! Dip the chicken in the flour, then the egg, then the cereal mixture. Lay it on your baking sheet.

Bake them in the 325 degree oven for about 15-25 min. Pull them out and prepare to meet the juiciest, crispiest, sweetest, spiciest, most wonderful baked chicken finger. If your tenders aren't super crispy on the bottom...don't fret, you won't notice that much once the tops start to cut up your mouth.

This is a relatively healthy meal since you can control the amount of cereal, flour, egg, etc. I think Hungry Girl even has her own take on the recipe. I made mine with green peas and a recipe for microwave potato chips! What?! Yes, you heard me. Microwave! I found it on Pinterest....go figure.

Happy Eating!