Carrot Cake - Chocolate Cake - Orange Chocolate Frosting

A lot of people I know list Carrot Cake as their favorite. I do not like a mild carrot cake. I prefer I spicier, richer cake. That is why I add the extra spices that are normally reserved for Spice Cake. Recipe Name: Carrot Cake Ingredients: 2 c flour 1 1/2 c raw sugar 1 t baking soda 1 t baking powder 6 large carrots, grated 3/4 c butter 4 eggs 1/2 c milk 1 t vanilla 1 t cinnamon 1/4 t nutmeg 1/4 t ginger 1/4 t clove 1/4 t allspice Steps: *cream butter and sugar *slowly add eggs and milk *mix in; baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, clove, vanilla and carrots *mix in flour *pour into a greased and floured pan *bake at 350 for 1 hour or until knife inserted comes out clean *cool for 1 hour or more before turning over NOTES: *When this cake is baking, and even when it is done, before it cools you will see melted butter around the edges. *do not flip this cake over until it has cooled *Everyone raved over this cake, though I found it to be too moist. If you do not like an very moist cake cut butter down to 1/2 c.  If you are making cup cakes or layers out of this cake do not cut down on the butter. I suggest frosting this with orange frosting. Recipe Name: orange frosting Ingredients: zest and juice of 1 small orange 3 c powdered sugar 1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese Steps: *Cream cream cheese *mix in zest and orange juice * mix in powdered sugar NOTES: * this is a soft frosting, that is how I like them, so I can almost pour them over the cake. If you want a stiffer frosting either add more powdered sugar or cut down on the orange juice. If you add more powdered sugar, you may want to add more orange zest. The second is a decadent chocolate cake with a chocolate orange frosting. I find the biggest mistake people make with chocolate is adding too much sugar. Good chocolate should be rich, almost bitter-sweet. It is a delicate balance, but if you are making chocolate anything and find yourself pondering over whether it needs more sugar or not, just leave it as is. Here is the cake. Recipe Name: Chocolate Cake Ingredients: 1/2 c butter 3 oz unsweetened chocolate 1 1/3 c raw sugar 2 eggs 1 c yogurt (or 2/3 c milk) 1/4 t salt 1/2 t baking powder 3/4 t baking soda 1 3/4 c cake flour 1 t vanilla Steps: *cream butter *melt chocolate in microwave stirring every 15 seconds, until soft and liquid *mix chocolate into butter *mix in sugar *mix in eggs, yogurt and vanilla *mix in salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cake flour *pour into a greased and cocoa powdered pan *bake at 350 for 45 minutes NOTES: *I personally found this cake to be a smidgen dry. Though from comments I don't think others felt the same way. If you like a moister cake, bring the butter up to 3/4 c. * This cake is nice and firm. You can flip it and frost it immediately. * though I have not tested it with milk, if you do not have yogurt, you should be able to substitute either 3/4 c sour cream & 1/4 c milk or 2/3 c milk. Here is the frosting. Recipe Name: Orange Chocolate Frosting Ingredients: zest and juice of 1 small orange 3 c powdered sugar 1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese 2 oz unsweetened chocolate 1/4 c cocoa powder Steps: *cream cream cheese *melt chocolate in microwave stirring every 15 seconds, until soft and liquid *mix chocolate into cream cheese *mix in cocoa powder, orange juice and orange zest *mix in powdered sugar NOTES: * this is a soft frosting, that is how I like them, so I can almost pour them over the cake. If you want a stiffer frosting either add more powdered sugar or cut down on the orange juice. If you add more powdered sugar, you may want to add more orange zest.