A super moist spice cake filled with shredded carrots and toasted pecans; carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes around. The perfect accompaniment to carrot cake is its cream cheese frosting, providing added tang and sweetness, and is even better when coated with extra toasted pecans.
16ouncesblock-style full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
¾cupunsalted butter, at room temperature
6cupsconfectioner’s sugar
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla extract
⅛teaspoontable salt
Directions
Start by roasting the 2 cups of pecans or making candied pecans. Preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Bake the pecan halves for 6-10 minutes, until you can smell them, that’s when they’re ready. Set aside to cool and then chop them or place in a zipper lock bag and crush slightly with a meat mallet or rolling pin.
Peel the carrots and shred them on a box grater or with a shredding disc on a food processer. You can use the larger or smaller shredding holes; I prefer the smaller ones for a finer cut. Shred until you have about 2 ½ cups and set aside.
Turn the oven up to 350°F / 180°C. Prepare three 8” cake pans with parchment rounds and spray the parchment and sides with baking spray or butter and flour and set aside. You can make your own parchment rounds by placing your pan on parchment paper and tracing the bottom with a pen or pencil and cutting just inside the line.
In a mixing bowl, add 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon table salt, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice. Whisk together and set aside.
In another, large mixing bowl add ½ cup granulated white sugar, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, and all 4 eggs. Whisk together until fully mixed and the sugar has mostly dissolved. Add in 1 cup vegetable oil, ¾ cup applesauce, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Next, add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and whisk or stir together with a spatula until mostly combined. Now add the shredded carrots and 1 cup of the chopped pecans (reserve the rest for decorating) and fold in until well mixed with the batter.
Pour the cake batter evenly into each of the cake pans, either trying to eyeball it or use a scale to be more accurate (recommended), and place into the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
Once cooked, remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the cake pans for 10-15 minutes, then turn out and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled before building and frosting the cake.
While the cake is cooking, start making the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in another mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, beat ¾ cup unsalted butter until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add 16oz cream cheese and cream together at medium speed for another 2 minutes. Now add a pinch of salt and 6 cups confectioner’s sugar and mix at very low speed at first until the sugar has been mixed in, then raise the speed to medium and beat another 2-3 minutes until creamy and smooth.
While the cakes are cooling, place the frosting in the refrigerator and let chill for 20-30 minutes. This will allow it to set up and it will be easier to pipe if you go that route.
Once the cakes have cooled, place one on a cake round, cake turntable, or large plate (I highly recommend turntables, they make decorating 10x easier). If the cakes have a domed top, thinly slice some of the top off to make them level. Pipe or scoop enough frosting onto the top of the first layer so that you can fully cover it all the way to the edges and smooth it out evenly. Place the 2nd layer on top of the frosting and repeat. Add the final cake layer and repeat, this time covering the top and going down the sides as well. Use as much or as little of the frosting as you wish to completely cover the cake.
Add any decorations you wish, including the reserved, chopped pecans to the outside of the cake. Cup your hand and add the pecans, then press them into the side of the cake as high as you prefer or add them to the top. Once frosted and decorated, refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
1) Carrots – I used about 2 ½ cups of shredded carrots, which can vary from 4-6 carrots depending on their size. Do not use the pre-cut “matchstick” style carrots or shredded carrots, you need to shred them yourself. The matchstick carrots are a little too large for cake, and they’re dry to prevent sticking together. You want that freshly shredded moisture because it adds to the cake. Don’t skip shredding your own.2) Nuts – Whether you use pecans or walnuts, I highly suggest roasting them in the oven before chopping and using. My candied pecans were a great addition here, but that’s totally optional.3) Spices – I like to use cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. Other options to swap in are cloves or cardamom. My suggestion is definitely using cinnamon, probably nutmeg, ginger is optional, and optionally choose only one between allspice, clove, or cardamom.