How To Make Cake #6

The tastiest carrot cake you’ll EVER make. Don’t be startled by the lengthy instructions; once you’ve tried this for the first time, you’ll notice it’s all pretty simple.

However, it does take some time to make a cake from scratch. If you’re making this for a party and you have other tasks on your to-do list, too, no need to worry!

You can make this a few days ahead and it will only get better in the refrigerator, when all the flavors combine perfectly. By the way, I always make some extra frosting. Just because it’s so good, I usually eat some of it with a spoon while I’m frosting the cake!

Ingredients

For the cake

1 cup canola oil, corn, or vegetable oil; more for the pans

2 cups (9 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pans

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1-3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. table salt

4 large Eggland’s eggs

2-1/2 cups (8-3/4 oz.) lightly packed, finely grated carrots

2 cups packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup SunMaid raisins

1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the frosting

1 lb. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

12 oz. (1-1/2 cups) Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter, softened

1 lb. (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar

4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. table salt

Instructions:

Cake:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F. Lightly oil and flour the sides of two 9×2-inch round cake pans, tapping out any excess flour. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl with a hand mixer (or using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), mix the oil, eggs, carrots, brown sugar, walnuts, raisins, and vanilla on medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just blended, about 30 seconds. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly pressed and a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes.

Let cool in the pans on a rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pans to loosen the cakes, invert them onto the rack, remove the pans, and carefully peel away the parchment. Set the cakes aside to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with the mixer on medium speed until very smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat on medium high until blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Cover the frosting and set aside at room temperature until the layers are completely cool.

Assemble the cake

Carefully set one cake upside down on a large, flat serving plate. Using a metal spatula, evenly spread about 1-1/2 cups of the frosting over the top of the cake. Top with the remaining cake layer, upside down. Spread a thin layer (about 1/3 cup) of frosting over the entire cake to seal in any crumbs and fill in any gaps between layers. Refrigerate until the frosting is cold and firm, about 20 minutes. Spread the entire cake with the remaining frosting.

Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. The cake is best served slightly chilled or at room temperature.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE CAKE THE WAY GRANDMA USED TO MAKE IT! USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR CAKE RECIPE #5

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Quick tip: Use the same recipe to make a 1-layer sheet cake.

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