Carob Cake and my wonderful husband

In honor of the 6-month anniversary of the day Tom and I married, I bring you carob cake!

Recently, while trying to be healthy Tom and I had a long discussion about all the foods we would eat if calories and full-ness were of no concern. On the list were things like buffalo wings (Tom), mac & cheese (me) and various other horrible foods. But Tom reiterated that he would probably never love any food as much as he loves carob cake.

So, as a gift to my wonderful husband, I made carob cake and carob cupcakes!

Batter:
2 cups sugar
2.5 cups flour
1/2 cup carob powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tb vinegar (yes, vinegar)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cold water
2/3 cup oil

Frosting:
4 Tb melted butter
1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Mix all the batter ingredients together. The batter will be runny and will BUBBLE! Vinegar, baking soda -- it's a science experiment which is probably why Tom likes this cake so much...



Once all ingredients are mixed, bake in the oven at 350 degrees. Depending on which type of pan you use (or cupcakes) cooking time can vary. The cupcakes took about 25 minutes while the round pan took about 40 minutes. Since this batter is so runny, it's very easy to tell if it's done simply by looking at the center of each cupcake or the center of a big pan. Still wet? Not done. You can also use a toothpick to make sure the center is cooked all the way through. Once done, take out of the oven and cool.

To make the buttercream frosting, first cream together the melted butter, milk and vanilla. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time checking the consistency as you go. When the frosting first comes together it will be pretty thin but should thicken up if cooled in the fridge for a few minutes or just let to rest.