What Easter Dinner is complete without some Carrot Cake for dessert?? This updated fruitless recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting is just sweet enough and perfectly moist. We’ll make quick use of a stand mixer and a sheet pan to make this four layer, six inch cake in just about an hour and a half.
That’s right. We’re pouring our Carrot Cake batter in to a sheet pan to bake for just 25 minutes. I don’t have much in the way of baking equipment so this was my fast and efficient solution. We’ll cut up a sheet of carrot cake in to four six inch rounds before we assemble and frost our cake. If you don’t have any cutters like this you could cut any shape or size you’d like. I ended up with enough left overs to make a small two layer cake (which I may or may not have had for breakfast this morning).
This cake calls for a classic Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. The amounts I’ve suggested in the recipe make use of a full block of cream cheese and allow for applying as much frosting as you’d like. Personally, I would divide the recipe in half for my cake. I’ve also cut some of the sugar from the classic ratio so it’s not too sweet – use a full pound for the classic recipe. Feel free to experiment with flavored extracts. Instead of Vanilla, I like to use Ginger Snap or Almond flavored liqueurs.
If I’m going to be honest with you I’d have to admit that this is the first cake I’ve ever made. The first layer cake with frosting at least. I learned that cake baking isn’t as hard as I had thought. The real obstacle for me was acquiring the tools and hardware. I’ve collected bits and pieces over years such as the stand mixer, cake pedestal, sheet pan, and offset spatulas to get here. I’m not that in to sweets to have made this a priority in my kitchen – but baking isn’t really about the baker. I mean, if you’re just baking a cake for yourself, more power to ya.
For most of us baking a cake is about the celebration. We often celebrate life, joy, love, memories, tradition, and family with desserts and cakes. They hold emotional bonds for of us. Dessert may have the most direct connection to what Eat Up! Kitchen is all about. That’s to suggest that breakfast, lunch, and dinner are moments a lot of us experience by ourselves or in a small group. Dessert is special and inherently a shared experience. I guess this means I should be making more confections around here!
I was lucky enough to share this Carrot Cake with a friend who was celebrating her birthday. I’ll let her describe the cake for you…
Omg!!! This cake is amazing!
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups AP Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp All Spice
- 1 1/4 cups Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 lb. Organic Carrots shredded
- 1 Cup Pecans crushed
- 8 oz Unsalted Butter room temp
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 3/4 lb. Powdered Sugar
- 2 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 12x18 sheet pan with non stick spray.
- Use a food processor’s grater attachment or a box grater to shred one pound of organic carrots.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice together in a medium bowl.
- In your stand mixer’s bowl, add sugar and vegetable oil then whisk on high until sugar has completely dissolved. Incorporate one egg at a time.
- Swap out the whisk for a paddle and slowly incorporate the dry ingredients on medium speed. As the dry and wet ingredients come together, fold in all the grated carrots and pecans. At this point you could refrigerate the batter for use later.
- Pour bater out to sheet pan and distribute evenly with a spoon or silicone spatula. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry.
- As the cake is baking, clean the stand mixer bowl and make the frosting. Cream butter with a paddle for a few minutes until light and thick. Beat in cream cheese then slowly add powdered sugar. Beat on high until frosting is desired consistency - about 3-5 minutes. Set in refrigerator to chill for up to ten minutes.
- Set cake aside to cool to room temp. Cut cake in to four 6 inch rounds with cookie cutter.
- Spread a small amount of frosting on the base of your plate or stand to hold the cake. Add one cake round and evenly apply 1/4” to 1/2” of frosting to the top with an offset spatula. Repeat with other cake rounds pressing slightly as you lay each on the frosting so it spreads beyond it’s circumference. Once all layers are have been assembled use the offset spatula to evenly spread any excess frosting along the sides of the cake. Add more if desired.
- Serve immediately or cover and chill until needed.
