My Favorite Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups sugar*
- 1 1/2 cups avocado oil*
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups shredded carrots 8 oz
- 1/2 cup golden raisins*
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds toasted and roughly crushed*
- 1 20- ounce can crushed pineapple VERY well drained and squeezed dry
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 16 ounces 2 blocks cream cheese
- 3 3/4 cups 475 grams sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Prepare two 9-inch round pans by lightly greasing, flouring and lining with parchment.
- Toast almonds by spreading on a baking sheet and toasting in a 350°f oven for 8 minutes. Watch carefully because all ovens are slightly different and they can burn quickly! Remove from pan once toasted so that they don't continue to brown.
- Drain pineapple by squeezing very well. Place in large bowl. See notes for a use for the juice if you'd like to save it!
- Shred carrots either by hand or using a food processor and the medium grating disk. Don't use pre-shredded carrots because they tend to be dry. Add to bowl with pineapple.
- Add raisins and almonds to bowl with carrots and pineapple. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, Add sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add oil and eggs to flour mixture and mix well.
- Add carrot/pineapple mixture to flour/oil mixture and stir well to combine..
- Divide between prepared pans.
- Bake in a 350°f oven for 30-35 minutes, checking at the 25 minute mark, until finger pressed gently into the center feels resistance and cake bounces back.
- Cool on rack 20 minutes. Run a thin metal spatula around the sides to loosen and invert onto wire rack to cool completely.
- I like to wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight before frosting. This makes it much easier to get a smooth, crumb free coat.
- Ice with cream cheese frosting and chill before serving.
For Cream cheese Frosting
The optimal temperature for cream cheese and butter in this frosting is still cool to the touch but not quite room temperature. If it's too warm the frosting will be soupy, too cold and it won't be smooth.- Beat butter with paddle attachment of stand mixer until smooth. Add sifted powdered sugar in several additions, until all sugar is added. Keep speed on low so that the sugar doesn't end up all over the counter.
- Add vanilla, lemon juice and salt to butter/sugar and increase speed to medium, beating until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape bowl.
- Add cream cheese gradually (about 1/4 block at a time), beating on medium, until all cream cheese has been added. Scrape bowl several times while mixing. Beat about 30 seconds more, just until everything is completely smooth.
Ice cake with cream cheese frosting (see post for tips and pictures) and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. If you want to pipe the icing decoratively you may want to chill it for 30 minutes to one hour first so that it's more firm.- See notes for storage tips. Enjoy!
Notes
Omissions and substitutions:
- I like to use golden raisins but you can substitute brown raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries instead or leave them out completely.
- I always use sliced, toasted almonds and love the flavor toasting provides. You could substitute pecans or walnuts or leave the nuts out completely.
- I use avocado oil in all of my baking recipes because I don't use any vegetable or canola oils in my cooking. You can substitute vegetable or canola oil if you prefer. I do not suggest olive oil or coconut oil, the flavor and texture will not be the same.
- Measurement for salt is using Diamond kosher salt. If using Mortons kosher salt use 1/2 tsp, if using table salt use 1/4 tsp.
- You can reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup with no difference in texture. It's possible you could reduce it more but I haven't tried and can't guarantee the outcome.
- Use crushed pineapple packed in it's own juice, NOT in heavy syrup.
- (Bonus recipe to make a sauce with the extra pineapple juice: If you reserve the juice simmer it in a saucepan (with or without a dried thai chili) over medium-low heat until it's reduced to about 1/4 cup. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days until you're ready to use it. When ready, soften a tablespoon of chopped shallots in a small saucepan with a pat of butter. Add the reduction, whisking to smooth, and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over fish or chicken. Delicious!)
Tips
- Please do not use carrots you buy already shredded. they tend to be dry and make for an unappetizing texture in the finished cake. Shred carrots using a hand grater or the shredding disk of your food processor. To simplify things I buy 1 pound bags of baby carrots and use 1/2 of a bag for a recipe.
- When I have time I wrap and chill the baked layers overnight to make frosting the cakes easier. You can also freeze unfrosted layers, wrapped tightly in plastic and then foil or a ziplock freezer bag with the air squeezed out, for up to 2 months. Frosted cake will be good for up to one week, covered, in the refrigerator.
- I've found that taking the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge about 30 minutes before starting the frosting is best. Of course, this depends on the temperature of your kitchen. If they are too cold, your frosting won't be smooth and if they're too soft, your frosting will be soupy. You want them slightly cool to the touch and just soft enough that you can easily break it into sections with your fingers.
- Adding the cream cheese last and then beating only until everything is completely smooth helps keep the frosting thick and more firm. Make sure you sift your powdered sugar. The measurements are for sifted sugar.
- You won't taste lemon in the final frosting, but adding lemon juice cuts some of the sweetness of the frosting.Only use fresh lemon juice in the frosting, the pre-squeezed juice in bottles or little plastic squeeze-lemons is not the same. If that's all you have it's better to leave it out.