Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Jen Standridge
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 10
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (12 ½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound (6 to 7 medium) carrots, peeled
- 1 ½ cups (10 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (3 ½ ounces) packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups safflower, canola, or vegetable oil
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (4 ½ ounces) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- For the cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position
- and heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Line the bottom of the pan with parchment and spray the parchment.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves,
- and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
- In a food processor fitted with a large shredding disk, shred the carrots
- (you should have about 3 cups); transfer the carrots to a bowl and set aside.
- Wipe out the food processor workbowl and fit with the metal blade. Process the
- granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about
- seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady
- stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20
- seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the carrots and the
- dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into the
- prepared pan and bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the
- cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking
- time. Cool the cake to room temperature in the pan on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
- For the frosting: When the cake is cool, process the cream cheese, butter, sour
- cream, and vanilla in a clean food processor workbowl until combined, about 5 seconds,
- scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the confectioners' sugar
- and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
- Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen from the pan. Invert
- the cake onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, then invert again onto a
- serving platter. Using an icing spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the
- surface of the cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate
- for up to 3 days.)
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