Carrot Cake- Have your cake and veggies too!
In my world Carrot Cake strikes the perfect balance!
It’s not too sweet, but it’s not savory. My cream cheese frosting is sweet but has a tart finish. And it’s carrots so you’re really eating a vegetable!
My family can be finicky and we have a slight nut allergy. That means no raisins and no walnuts. This is my version of a Ina Garten recipe.
She uses pineapple and raisins so it was easy to leave the raisins out. I can’t use whole walnuts, but subbed in some walnut oil to get that aroma. Using oil instead of butter really keeps this cake moist.
I use the fine side of the grater, for my carrots. This gives me the taste of carrots and some texture without biting into chunks carrot.
It can be tempting to buy the shredded carrots, at the grocery store. Believe me I understand the desire for a time saver. Don’t do it! First of all you get extra moisture when you do your carrots fresh. Secondly, there is the pesky issue of the peel. If you do not get the peel off properly, you can end up with pieces of green carrots. This is a chemical reaction between the baking soda and the peel. Do the arm work and grate your own carrots.
This cake is delicious, moist, sweet and creamy.
Carrot Cake
A classic Carrot Cake recipe updated with no raisins and walnut oil instead of nuts.
Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 pound bag Carrots, peeld and grated
- 2-1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1 tsp. Kosher Salt (make it heaping)
- 2 cups Granulated White Sugar
- 1 cup Vegetable Oil, I used Avocado
- 1/3 cup Walnut Oil
- 3 Jumbo Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Diced Fresh Pineapple, divided into 2 1/2 cups
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2-8oz. pkgs Cream Cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter at. room temperature
- 16-32 ounces Confectioners sugar, this will vary depending on desired sweetness.
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tbs, Heavy Cream
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- I put the carrots first so that you would take the time before you get started baking to grate them.Preheat oven to 350°Butter and flour 2 8" cake pans and line with parchment paper. Make sure to butter and flour the paper too.
- Whisk together, in a medium bowl, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make sure it is whisked well, and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat sugar and oil until well incoporated.Beat in eggs, one at atime, and beat until fluffy and light in color. Stir in vanilla.
- On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over work. You can always get any dry bits when folding in the carrots.Gently fold in carrots and 1/2 cup pineapple.
- Divde battter between two pans. I use a large ice cream scoop and alternate between pans to make it even.Bake 45-60 minutes. It really depends on your oven. Mine took 52 minutes.You want a cake tester to come out with a few moist crumbs.Let cool completely in pans.
Frosting and Assembly
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and butter, until blended and ligther consistency.Add in vanilla.On a slow speed, gradually add the Confectioners sugar. I check for taste at about half of the sugar. I typically use about 24 ounces.Make sure you scraoe the bottom to get all the sugar incorporated.Switch attachment to whisk and add in heavy cream. Start on slow then increase speed to beat into soft-medium peaks.Frost cake immediately. If you have to chill the frosting, bring it back to room temp before frosting.
- Place about a 1/2 cup, or more, of frosting on top of bottom layeer and spread evenly.Do a thin crumb coat of frosting all over cake and put in fridge for about 10 minutes to set-up.Then generously frost sides and top of cake. Create swirls or ribbons for eye appeal.Decoratively mound remaining pineapple and a sprig of mint in center of top cake layer.
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