Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Brimming with heart warming spices and earthy sweetness, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is a classic favorite for good reason. And this one is truly hard to top. It's an adaptation of a recipe unearthed from the mountain of cooking magazines I've managed to accumulate over the years, and more specifically, the title "All-Time Favorite Recipes" From America's Test Kitchen TV Show (circa 2013). This version is perfectly tender and delicately spiced, just like the original...but with a bit less sugar, in order to let those sweet carrots really shine through, plus a heap of walnuts for rich texture. It's also far more petite in scale, yielding just six generous slices, making it ideal for those intimately sized occasions that still call for a spectacular slice of cake!
Servings 6 servings
Equipment
- food processor
- 2 six inch round cake pans
- 2 six inch parchment rounds
- wire cooling racks
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ pound carrots, peeled
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 batch cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350℉. Grease baking pans with butter. Then line with parchment paper. Grease the parchment as well, and then flour the pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set the flour mixture aside.
- Using a food processor fitted with the large shredding disk, shred the carrots. Transfer the shredded carrots to a bowl and set aside.
- Fit the processor with the metal blade. Then add the sugar, brown sugar, and eggs to the work bowl. Process until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
- With the processor running, add the oil in a steady stream. Process until the sugar mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 30 seconds.
- Add the sugar mixture to the flour mixture, along with the shredded carrots and chopped walnuts. Stir everything together until the batter appears uniform and no traces of flour remain.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pans. Smooth tops with a rubber spatula, and then gently tap the pans on the counter to release any air bubbles.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely in their pans on wire racks, about 2 hours.
- Once cooled, invert cakes onto the racks and discard the parchment. Place the first layer onto a cake platter and spread a thin layer of cream cheese frosting evenly over the top. Place the second layer on top. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and around the sides.