North Scranton baker's Carrot Cake a buttercream dream

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Photo: N/A, License: N/A, Created: 2018:03:16 16:28:49

JAKE DANNA STEVENS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER North Scranton resident Tracy Anescavage is this week’s Local Flavor: Recipes We Love contest winner for her Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Carrot cake can be an acquired taste.

Some people are just not sold on vegetables in their sweets. That’s why Local Flavor is here to expand taste buds and challenge culinary bias.

Lucky for us, Tracy Anescavage saves the day with Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Anescavage is a seasoned baker. The North Scranton resident owns TracyCakes, where she creates one-of-a-kind, scratch-made cupcakes, cakes, muffins, cookies and more.

Anescavage combined some of her favorite varieties of the confection to come up with her Carrot Cake recipe.

“I liked a buttercream recipe here and the cake recipe from another. I kind of threw them all together and started tweaking,” she said during a recent afternoon inside the home she shares with her boyfriend, Kevin.

Bakers can take this “simple” recipe and make it to their liking, such as by adding nuts and raisins, she said. For less texture, Anescavage added, she finely grinds up the carrots in a food processor before mixing them in.

“It’s really up to you and your taste and what you like,” she said.

The rich cake did not disappoint. The cake portion delivered a warm spice flavor, while the cream cheese buttercream filling and frosting offered a smooth, cool sweetness. Raisins and nuts gave bite to the perfect Easter treat.

Anescavage initially started baking as a hobby. Working with computers each day, she found focusing on something other than a screen to be cathartic. Somewhere along the way, she started to bake for friends and family and created sweets on special request.

One day, she decided to create a Facebook page for her creations, and TracyCakes was born. Through word of mouth, she’s made dozens of sweets for birthdays and other milestones, including a first-birthday smash cake shaped like Sophia Petrillo’s handbag from “The Golden Girls.”

Anescavage feels grateful for the fun opportunities she’s had and, mostly, for the outpouring of support from friends and family.

“Cake just makes people happy,” Anescavage said. “You can’t be upset when you’re eating cake.”

Contact the writer: gmazur@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127; @gmazurTT on Twitter

Tracy Anescavage’s Carrot Cake

with Cream Cheese Buttercream

For the cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

3 cups grated carrots

1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour three 8-inch round pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper to avoid sticking.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Mix in eggs, oil and vanilla extract.

Use a food processor to break down the carrots so they mix into the batter more evenly. Add carrots to bowl and mix. Follow with raisins and/or walnuts, if using.

Separate the batter between the pans and bake for 40 minutes. Use a toothpick to ensure the center has set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out of the pans to cool completely. Frost cake with recipe below.

For the frosting:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese,

room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Combine cream cheese and unsalted butter in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (If no stand mixer is available, place ingredients in a large bowl and use a hand mixer.) Beat for 2 minutes and gradually add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated.

Add in vanilla and heavy cream and beat for an additional 2 minutes until fluffy.

Place a generous amount of frosting between cake layers and cover assembled cake with remaining buttercream. Decorate to liking.

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