You all know I rescued Zoey from a shelter so I have no way of knowing her exact birth date. So I guestimated 4 months earlier from the time that she lost her baby teeth, which turned out to be the beginning of February. My dad’s birthday is February 1st so we decided to make Zoey’s birthday February 1st as well so they could celebrate together. So each year I make a cake for my dad and a cake for Zoey. My dad’s favorite cake is carrot cake and it turns out it’s Zoey’s favorite cake too! Obviously Zoey’s cake is much more dog friendly.
For my dad’s cake I made a 2 layer 9″ round cake. I had Duncan Hines spice cake mix from a BOGO deal I had from earlier so I used this as the base of my carrot cake.
I made the icing from scratch. I used a cream cheese frosting to frost the outside and the middle layer. I used buttercream for the carrots and edging.
Carrot Cake
Serves: 8
Ingredients for the cake
- 1 pkg. Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix
- 1/2 c. shredded carrots
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 c. oil
- 1 c. water
- 1 c. chopped pecans
Ingredients for cream cheese frosting
- 1/2 c. salted butter (1 stick), softened
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 3-4 c. powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Ingredients for buttercream frosting
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 c. powdered sugar
- 2 TBS heavy cream
Instructions for cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine cake mix, eggs, water and oil in mixer
- Mix on low until ingredients are combined then increase to medium speed for 2 minutes
- Fold in carrots and pecans
- Transfer to 2 greased 9″ round baking pans
- Baking time depends on the type of pan. I baked mine for 28 minutes
Instructions for cream cheese icing
- Beat together cream cheese and butter
- Slowly blend in vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until well combined
Instructions for buttercream icing
- Cream butter and vanilla in bowl
- Add 1/2 c. powdered sugar at a time
- Once mixture is smooth add 1 TBS heavy cream and another 1/2 c. powdered surgar
- Continue adding ingredients as above until all ingredients are combined
Adapted from: Duncan Hines, Five Heart Home, and Glamorously Mommy
With carrot cake I would pair a Zinfandel. I chose a St. Francis “Old Vines” Zinfandel 2012 from Costco. It has flavors of vanilla bean and cherry and aromas of pepper, spice and raspberry. It paired well with the sweetness and the spices in the carrot cake.
I made Zoey’s dog cake from scratch. There are no pre-made doggy cake mixes out there that I know of.
The cake includes some of Zoey’s favorites: peanut butter, carrots and honey.
The topping has peanut butter and cream cheese. I added some extra shredded carrots and dog treats around the edge for decoration.
Carrot Pupcake
credit: Country Cleaver
For the cake:
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 cup peanut butter
1/8 cup vegetable oil
½ cup shredded carrots
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/6 cup honey
1 egg
For the frosting:
¼ cup cream cheese, softened
¼ cup peanut butter
½ TBS honey
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl mix flour and baking soda. In another larger bowl mix peanut butter, oil, carrots vanilla and honey. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet mixture. Bake in muffin tin or small greased pan for 30 minutes. Mix together all frosting ingredients and frost the cake when it is cool. Add dog treats and extra carrot for decoration.
Here is Zoey enjoying her birthday cake: