CARROT CAKE RECIPE: MOIST AND DENSE

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Mmmmmm….. Carrot Cake. It’s one of my favorite cakes in the whole wide world. The recipe for Carrot Cake is moist, dense, and quite honestly to die for! 

We’ve made a number of carrot cakes over the years. The cream cheese frosting stands out as a winner in this recipe. Simple, velvety, absolutely delicious. This recipe was inspired by Dorie Greenspan‘s Carrot Cake that was recently published in the New York Times Cooking section. Her recipe is amazing…but we made a few small changes to fit our personal taste. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! 

 

Yield: 12 servings

CARROT CAKE

CARROT CAKE
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Additional Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 9.5 ounces all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2  teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 12.5 ounces grated carrots (approx. 3 cups)
  • 4 ounces raisins
  • 4 ounces chopped pecans
  • 2 ounces unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 15 ounces sugar
  • 6.5 ounces vegetable oil
  • 4 large eggs

Frosting

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 10-12 ounces powdered sugar
  • sprinkles or chopped pecans to garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Lightly grease two round 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with a round piece of parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, .baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg and set aside. In another bowl, combine the carrots, raisins, chopped nuts and coconut.
  4. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and oil together until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to mix until the batter is smooth.
  5. reduce the speed to low and gently stir in the flour mixture - mix only until the dry ingredients disappear.
  6. Then mix in the carrot mixture Just as gently until just combined.
  7. Divide the batter among the baking pans and slide the pans into the oven. Bake the cakes for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the centers of the cakes comes out clean. Transfer the pans to cooling racks, cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool to room temperature.
  8. For the frosting: Using a stand mixer (with a clean bowl and paddle attachment) beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth.
  9. Once the cake is completely cooled, frost the cake to taste. Garnish with sprinkles or chopped pecans.

Notes

Storing: You should cover and refrigerate the cake once you apply the cream cheese frosting.

A note on garnishing: I’m a sucker for chopped pecans garnish on a carrot cake. Unfortunately these days we can’t just run out to the store to pick up a few things. So quarantine has humbled us all and taught me to just roll with what ya got. In this case it was orange sprinkles.  

The same goes for raisins; if you don’t have dried cranberries or blueberries, try chopping up some dates or prunes. While you’re at it, soak them in booze before using them. Cheers.

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2 Comments

  1. Dee

    ok guys, I finally made your Carrot Cake that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time! My cousin and husband both love, I mean love carrot cake. it was my cousins B/day this sat. we decided I’d make this carrot cake, WOW! it was good! I’m sure there are many good c.c’s out there, but so far out of the others I’ve made, this is tops, thank U so much for sharing! I’ve also have made some of your other recipes-very delish

    • Stephen Chavez

      Ah! This makes us sooo sooo happy! Please share with your family and friends on social media if you can.

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