Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I love a good carrot cake. I’ve tried many different recipes, some with pineapple and raisins, and others with nuts. I like them all, but this one has no fruit and plenty of pecans. I prefer to frost it “naked”, meaning there is no frosting on the outside, allowing the cake itself to be the star. A generous drizzle of caramel sauce puts this cake at the front of the “cake walk” and makes it a real showstopper. You can cut the recipe in half, making it a two-layer cake instead. I’ve even baked it in loaf pans, which means I can call it bread. I once had a friend from Italy visit me, and when I served her some carrot bread, she took a bite and said, “Shannon, this is not bread. It is cake”. I still don’t believe her.

---

Ingredients

Serves 10-12

Cake:

• 4 cups sugar

• 3 cups vegetable oil

• 8 large eggs, room temperature

• 4 cups flour

• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• 4 teaspoons baking soda

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 6 cups finely grated peeled carrots (2 pounds)

• 1 ½ cup chopped pecans, toasted

Frosting:

• 4 cups powdered sugar

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 1 tablespoon vanilla paste (or extract)

• 1 cup caramel

Process

Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease four 9-inch round cake pans, and line each with a circle-shaped parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and vegetable oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add to the sugar and oil mixture and combine. Stir in carrots and chopped pecans. Pour batter equally into four pans. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pans and turn out cakes onto a rack to cool completely. On a cake plate, place one cake and spread one fourth of the frosting over the top of the cake. Repeat with remaining cakes. Warm the caramel, if necessary, to make it pourable. Drizzle over cake. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.

Frosting:

Using an electric mixer, beat all ingredients together and frost cake.