By: Valerie
Cakes and Cupcakes, , ,

Fluffy Frosted Carrot Cake

Yield: one 9-inch cake
Recipe: 159/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 271

    The colder crisp weather that accompanies late autumn always makes me want to bake, even more than usual. I always find baking to be relaxing and comforting, plus it usually makes our kitchen smell lovely as well. After the elaborate tiramisu torte that I made a few weeks back, I wanted to make something a bit more simple this time. I opted for a fluffy frosted carrot cake as it is one of my favorite types of cake.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups coarsely grated, loosely packed carrots (about 4-5 large carrots)
  • ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ⅔ cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup raisins or walnut pieces (optional)
  • 1 recipe Maple Meringue Frosting
  • Walnut halves, for garnish (optional)

    This recipe was a joy to make and painless. I really enjoy making the maple meringue frosting from this book that I have done previously. It looks beautiful, is white as snow and tastes lovely without being overly sweet. It pairs perfectly with this carrot cake, which was indeed fluffy and delicious. I still slightly prefer the autumn wedding carrot cake, but this one is very good as well and not nearly as involved.

    I myself did not add raisins or walnuts for the mere reason that I did not have them on hand, but I think it would have looked lovely and added a nice texture to add some walnuts around the edge of the cake. An interesting thing that happened while assembling the cake is that although I let the cake layers cool completely before frosting the cake, I realized when I cut into it that it looks like one single layer of cake instead of two layers separated by a nice layer of maple meringue frosting. I really don’t know what happened because I am certain that I did in fact add a cup of frosting in between the two layers, but it somehow seems to have been completely absorbed into the cake. It would definitely have looked prettier with the frosting layer in the middle. If I was to repeat this recipe I would probably put more frosting in between the layers, and would also make an 8-inch cake instead of 9. This way it would look a bit taller which I prefer. Overall, very nice recipe!

Directions:

  1. Preheat over to 325°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil and eggs until well combined. Add this to the carrot mixture, stirring until well blended.
  4. Stir in the raisins or walnuts, if using, and scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then turn it out to cool completely.
  5. Prepare the Maple Meringue Frosting recipe, and use the frosting while it is still warm. Cut the cake in half horizontally and place one cake layer on a platter. Spread about a cup of the frosting over the cake and top with the second cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Garnish the edge of the cake with walnuts, if you wish. Let the cake set for an hour and store unwrapped until sliced.

Happy baking!
Valerie