This cake definitely did not disappoint. It’s moist, full of flavor, and beautiful. I thought that I would end up sending some of it to work with James but we kept the entire cake here and didn’t share it with anyone! That rarely happens.
For the cakes:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 lb. carrots, 8-10 medium carrots, peeled and shredded, about 2 3/4 cups
2 cups pecans, divided (1 cup finely chopped, 1 cup coarsely chopped)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter 2 9-inch round cake pans. Fit the bottom of the pans with parchment rounds, then butter and flour the parchment lined pans, tapping out the excess flour.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
4. Add in vanilla, water, and carrot and beat until well combined, scraping down bowl as needed. With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture and then the finely chopped pecans.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes then run a sharp knife around the edge of the pans and remove cakes from pan. Cool cakes on wire rack completely.
6. To frost the cakes, trim the top of one cake and spread 1 cup of cream cheese frosting on the cut side of the cake. Top with second cake and frost completely. Carefully press coarsely chopped pecans onto the sides of the cake. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 2 packages (16 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces & at room temperature
- 2 lbs. powdered sugar
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Slowly add in butter and mix until well combined.
2. On a low speed, slowly add in powdered sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth.
Your cakes look delicious best I seen I can’t wait to try them.
Could not get the receipt to print but I wrote it by hand and will try it soon… I do love carrot cake and anxious to try it… Thank you for the receipt…
I love carrots cakes why can’t I prints this one ??
Where do I find the entire recipe so I can print it ???
Janet could you please go back and add the print button to your recipe for the carrot cake? Thanks we love your receipes. Keep them coming.
NEED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MIX THE CARROT CAKE AND BAKE AT WHAT TEMP AND HOW LONG….
As others have stated please put print recipe!!!! Thanks
Can’t print the recipe.
Is that a typo? Two pounds of powdered sugar seems like an awful lot for the cream cheese frosting.
Can I get carrot cake recipe sent to my e-mail? Looks wonderful.
Please, please make this printable! It looks SO good!
Would love to be able to print carrot cake recipe. Thank you
Your style is really unique in comparison to other folks I’ve read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I’ll just book mark this site.
Would love to try this recipe, but Can’t figure out how to print the recipe. Can’t even use the ctrl + p function.