This is a tall, moist carrot cake, light in texture and lightly spiced with cinnamon and touch of nutmeg. Heavy cream whipped into the cream cheese frosting makes it extra fluffy.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Inactive: | 2 hr 10 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 10 servings |
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups finely grated carrots (about 1 pound carrots)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 pound cream cheese, cut into cubes, at room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup heavy cream, cold
Instructions
- For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until light brown and fragrant, 7 minutes. Set aside 12 pecan halves to decorate the finished cake; chop the remaining pecans. Set aside 1 cup of the chopped pecans to use in the batter; reserve the rest for decorating the finished cake.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the oil until well combined. Add the grated carrots, vanilla and 1 cup chopped pecans, and mix well. Add the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cakes are nicely browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a spatula, turn the cakes out and let cool completely, right-side up, on the cooling rack, about 2 hours. Remove the parchment before frosting.
- For the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, scraping down the side as necessary, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt; gradually increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and beat until the sugar is incorporated and the frosting is fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on medium-high, add the cream a few drops at time until it’s all incorporated. Continue beating for 1 more minute until the frosting is slightly lighter in color and creamy.
- To assemble: Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate, and spread 1 cup of the frosting over the top. Top with the other layer, and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. Arrange the 12 whole pecans on top of the cake like the numbers on a clock face, and sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans in between.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 1145 |
| Total Fat | 78 g |
| Saturated Fat | 26 g |
| Carbohydrates | 105 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 74 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Cholesterol | 176 mg |
| Sodium | 675 mg |
Reviews
i will tessted good
Went over well with my family. Made it for my daughter’s 30th. She loved it & thought it was moist. Added toasted walnuts since my daughter likes walnuts.
I omitted the pecans because I burned all the ones I had left, but even without them this became our favorite cake. Not just carrot cake, but our favorite cake period. It has now been requested for my daughters birthday, so I am going to make it again. I followed all instructions carefully and it came our great!
Best ever!
Amazing the frosting is so fluffy! Just follow instructions and your good!
Added a cup of sour cream for moisture, since the major critique was the dryness. Cut back on some of the sugar in frosting so it wasn’t too sweet. I constantly taste when making frosting until it gets to the perfect balance.
This is my go to carrot cake recipe. I don’t like a lot of additional fruit and heaviness to my carrot cake so this is nice and light similar to a spice cake. I think this is a super simple recipe to follow and consistently comes out really good.
Some awesome recipes, Thank You
came out good the frosting was a little too sweet but I really think that’s my fault I refused to go out and get powdered sugar so I made my own lol. O well kids liked it.
The cake was dry and not very good!! Frosting was too and I had alot of it left over. Wont make again. Very disappointed!!