I’m a huge fan of cakes that are made from more than just flour, butter, and sugar. I love breads and cakes with actual fruit and nuts inside. This week I made carrot cake as a nice treat during all of this cold weather. It was great to feel the warmth from the stove and to smell cinnamon wafting through my house on a freezing cold night.

I hope some of you jumped on board the Bronx Foodie New Year’s challenge to cook 50% of your meals at home. For the last three weeks, I’ve posted easy recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’d love to hear how it went. Were there any challenges to cooking? Let us know and we’ll feature a question on the blog.

So here’s a recipe for carrot cake and stay tuned for next week’s post that will give tips for making a home cooked Valentines Day dinner. Enjoy! Click Read More for the recipe and more photos!

Carrot Cake

1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk or milk alternative
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup carrot, finely shredded
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the milk, oil, egg, carrot, ginger, and raisins and gently mix it together. Pour into a lightly oiled cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes. The cake is done when a knife or toothpick is inserted into the cake and comes out clean.

[Editor’s Note:] Just a reminder to our readers that the Bronx News Network is in the middle of our annual fundraising appeal. If you value quality local journalism, please consider donating so we can continue to bring you news and features, like our daily roundup or our borough events calendar. More details on how to contribute can be found here.