This carrot cake is truly the greatest, with its amazing spice taste, wonderfully moist texture, and silky cream cheese icing. For a richer flavor, use brown sugar and roasted pecans.
I don't refer to it as carrot cake.
It's what I refer to as "birthday cake."
My favorite cake is carrot cake. Every year for my birthday as a kid, my mother prepared it, and the only thing that came close was a batch of carrot cake cupcakes on the side. This is a practice I've adopted, and I create my own carrot birthday cake every year. And, of course, we don't do it just once a year. This cake is a favorite of mine to make for spring brunches, baby showers, and our neighborhood's new bake sale.
In fact, I've stopped asking what everyone wants for dessert because this carrot cake recipe is so popular! Because this is always the case!
What Is the Flavor of This Carrot Cake?
This carrot cake is the gold standard for all carrot cakes. It's densely packed with roasted pecans and quite moist. Brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and carrots provide the majority of the flavor. Ginger provides a great zing to the dish, but it's not overbearing. Although the cake is substantial, each forkful is extremely soft and rich. If you make it ahead of time, the taste deepens and the cream cheese frosting seeps into the layers, making the bite even more soft.
So, if you're looking for a make-ahead cake that won't lose its flavor or texture, try this! It's a true classic, and one bite will convert anyone, even those who claim they "don't like carrot cake." Who ARE you people?!
Let's Get It Done!
This carrot cake is simple to make, so let's go over the steps together.
To start, roast the pecans in the oven. Bake for about 8 minutes after spreading them out on a baking sheet. It's optional to toast the nuts, but you won't be sorry if you do. When nuts are toasted, they develop an unrivaled deep nutty flavor. Allow the nuts to cool for a few minutes before starting the carrot cake batter. Begin by combining two mixing bowls. In one bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then in another, whisk together the wet ingredients. Combine the two, as well as the shredded carrots and roasted almonds, in a mixing bowl. The cake batter can be made without using a mixer!
This recipe can be baked in a 9x13 inch pan instead of a layer cake. It's also ideal for a homemade wedding cake's bottom tier!
How to Make a Moist Carrot Cake
It's not worth it if it's not moist enough to stick to the back of your fork. So I set out to make an EXTREMELY moist carrot cake. Don't forget to include the following ingredients:
1. Brown Sugar: I've seen a number of carrot cake recipes that are largely granulated sugar sweetened. That's nice, but granulated sugar doesn't really add anything to the cake other than sweetness. Brown sugar not only sweetens the cake, but it also adds a lot of taste and moisture to it. It's just... the greatest!
2. Cakes require fat in order to be soft and supple. I prefer to use butter as the fat in cakes that don't have a lot of taste, like vanilla or white cake. They're also flavorful thanks to the butter. However, I feel that flavorless oil is the ideal choice for cakes like chocolate cake and carrot cake that have flavor from other ingredients.
3. Applesauce: I use applesauce to keep the cake from being overly moist (wet) and oily. You may even use pineapple that has been smashed! Brown sugar and spices complement these flavors well.
4. Carrots, Freshly Shredded: My first carrot cake tip is to shred entire carrots at home. Because packaged pre-shredded carrots are hard and dry, do not use them. For this dish, you'll need roughly 4 large carrots. You'll notice how wet they are when you grate them. You don't want to miss out on that moisture for your baked cake!
Frosting made with cream cheese
What about the carrot cake icing? That's also simple. It's silky smooth, zesty, and effortlessly slides over the cake. It's what I call spreadable cheesecake, and it's incredible with the strong spice flavor of this cake.
Ingredients:
Block-style cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla essence, and a bit of salt are required. The salt counteracts the sweetness.
If you want to pipe decorations with this cream cheese frosting, refrigerate it for 20 minutes before doing so. This ensures that the creamy frosting maintains its form.
Success Tips for Carrot Cake
Use parchment paper to line your cake pans. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on top of your cake pans. Cut the circles after tracing the bottom of the cake pan with a pencil. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the pan and parchment paper. The cakes will not stick if you use parchment paper circles.
Make it ahead of time. One of the best things about carrot cake is that it improves over time, even after a day. The flavors meld, the wetness lingers, and the cream cheese icing adheres to the layers. It's awe-inspiringly good! The cake can be made and frosted up to one day ahead of time. Refrigerate it covered until ready to serve, then bring to room temperature if desired.
Use carrots that have been freshly shredded.
Lead image credits to:
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/carrot-cake-on-cutting-board-gm1125731362-296071368