unbelievable carrot cake
This cake will make you more popular.
Am I exaggerating? Probably not. Great carrot cake is hard to find. This one is unbelievable. Moist, flavorful, not heavy or greasy. It once prompted a coworker to take a picture of me holding the rest of the cake after he ate a slice.
But, if I'm being fair, it might be the cream cheese frosting.
Before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about layers. This cake recipe works well as 2 9-inch layers, with enough frosting to cover it completely. Or it will work just as well for my preferred arrangement: 3 8-inch layers, stacked with frosting in between and the edges exposed. I think the stacks are darling and this arrangement accomplishes the perfect distribution of frosting.
A few words about the carrots: Scrub, peel, and grate by hand. I know it's a pain. I'll tell you why you should do it. Scrubbing prevents any dirt, germs, and impurities from invading your cake, obviously. Peeling removes the fibrous skin on the outside of the carrot, which can affect texture and turn to ugly greenish flecks in your cake while you're baking. Grating by hand preserves moist texture and eliminates unwelcome toothsome chunks in your cake. And it's probably easier than cleaning the food processor anyway.
I've spent enough time talking about the bad stuff you want to avoid. Let's celebrate how incredibly easy this recipe is once you'vegrated had someone else grate those carrots.
The rest, truly, is a handful of baking essentials you have in your pantry, spices, plus your new best friend unsweetened applesauce. The applesauce subs in for some of the oil you'll find in traditional carrot cake recipes. It adds all the moisture without any of the weight. Not to mention the grease or fat that are only worth it when, well, they arrive in something like cream cheese frosting. (More on that later.) Maybe I'm not being clear: the applesauce is better than the oil. It's not just a healthy substitute. If you don't have any on hand, it will cost you 2 dollars at the grocery store. Totally worth it.
Don't forget the ground ginger taking the place of cinnamon's ordinary holiday companion, nutmeg. The result is warmer, friendlier, and more flavorful.
As for the frosting, I've nailed my own version of cream cheese frosting with two packages cheese to one stick butter. The ratio works. The cake is unbelievable. Your popularity is imminent. Are you sure you want to do this? The recipe follows.
Unbelievable Carrot Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
3 cups (packed) peeled and grated carrots (about 6-8 carrots)
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, cream oil, sugar, eggs, and applesauce with a whisk or electric mixer until very light.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in grated carrots.
Prepare 3 8-inch cake pans for 3 layers or 2 9-inch cake pans for 2 layers. Grease and flour each one, lining the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper if you have some available.
Bake about 30-35 minutes until the tops are springy to the touch. A tiny bit underdone is okay, but you don't want it to be mushy. Cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature or close
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature or close
1 pound powdered sugar, plus a little extra if needed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Toasted and chopped pecans, for decorating
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate each addition. Beat until very light. You'll notice that it gets gooey after the first couple of additions, then starts to stiffen up when more sugar is added. Add the vanilla when you are nearly finished. Keep adding sugar until you reach a substantial but spreadable consistency.
Arrange the first cake layer on a cake stand with a large dollop of frosting in the middle, then spread out toward the sides using an offset spatula to form an even layer. Add the second cake layer carefully, then repeat. For a 3-layer cake, I like to leave the sides exposed to show off those layers. For a 2-layer cake, you will have enough frosting to cover the sides also.
Sprinkled with toasted pecans to decorate.
Your frosted cake refrigerates very well in a covered cake container. It will be delicious the next day if kept cool.
Am I exaggerating? Probably not. Great carrot cake is hard to find. This one is unbelievable. Moist, flavorful, not heavy or greasy. It once prompted a coworker to take a picture of me holding the rest of the cake after he ate a slice.
But, if I'm being fair, it might be the cream cheese frosting.
Before I get ahead of myself, let's talk about layers. This cake recipe works well as 2 9-inch layers, with enough frosting to cover it completely. Or it will work just as well for my preferred arrangement: 3 8-inch layers, stacked with frosting in between and the edges exposed. I think the stacks are darling and this arrangement accomplishes the perfect distribution of frosting.
A few words about the carrots: Scrub, peel, and grate by hand. I know it's a pain. I'll tell you why you should do it. Scrubbing prevents any dirt, germs, and impurities from invading your cake, obviously. Peeling removes the fibrous skin on the outside of the carrot, which can affect texture and turn to ugly greenish flecks in your cake while you're baking. Grating by hand preserves moist texture and eliminates unwelcome toothsome chunks in your cake. And it's probably easier than cleaning the food processor anyway.
I've spent enough time talking about the bad stuff you want to avoid. Let's celebrate how incredibly easy this recipe is once you've
The rest, truly, is a handful of baking essentials you have in your pantry, spices, plus your new best friend unsweetened applesauce. The applesauce subs in for some of the oil you'll find in traditional carrot cake recipes. It adds all the moisture without any of the weight. Not to mention the grease or fat that are only worth it when, well, they arrive in something like cream cheese frosting. (More on that later.) Maybe I'm not being clear: the applesauce is better than the oil. It's not just a healthy substitute. If you don't have any on hand, it will cost you 2 dollars at the grocery store. Totally worth it.
Don't forget the ground ginger taking the place of cinnamon's ordinary holiday companion, nutmeg. The result is warmer, friendlier, and more flavorful.
As for the frosting, I've nailed my own version of cream cheese frosting with two packages cheese to one stick butter. The ratio works. The cake is unbelievable. Your popularity is imminent. Are you sure you want to do this? The recipe follows.
Unbelievable Carrot Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
3 cups (packed) peeled and grated carrots (about 6-8 carrots)
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, cream oil, sugar, eggs, and applesauce with a whisk or electric mixer until very light.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in grated carrots.
Prepare 3 8-inch cake pans for 3 layers or 2 9-inch cake pans for 2 layers. Grease and flour each one, lining the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper if you have some available.
Bake about 30-35 minutes until the tops are springy to the touch. A tiny bit underdone is okay, but you don't want it to be mushy. Cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature or close
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature or close
1 pound powdered sugar, plus a little extra if needed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Toasted and chopped pecans, for decorating
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, stirring to incorporate each addition. Beat until very light. You'll notice that it gets gooey after the first couple of additions, then starts to stiffen up when more sugar is added. Add the vanilla when you are nearly finished. Keep adding sugar until you reach a substantial but spreadable consistency.
Arrange the first cake layer on a cake stand with a large dollop of frosting in the middle, then spread out toward the sides using an offset spatula to form an even layer. Add the second cake layer carefully, then repeat. For a 3-layer cake, I like to leave the sides exposed to show off those layers. For a 2-layer cake, you will have enough frosting to cover the sides also.
Sprinkled with toasted pecans to decorate.
Your frosted cake refrigerates very well in a covered cake container. It will be delicious the next day if kept cool.
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