The Ultimate Carrot Cake

Carrot cake would have to be my favorite cake, and this beauty is the King of them all. Made with fresh pineapple, raisins, apricots, and a pound of grated carrots, this is one moist, flavor full dessert. Topped with an orange zest cream cheese frosting, these layers of love are the Ultimate fall treat.

So since I love fall, and carrot cake, and it just so happens to be my birthday, I decided to make this treat for myself. And of course me, being me, wanted to take this Ultimate cake to an even higher level. So I decided to add a little sugar art to dress it up for my celebration. I have to say I think it turned out quite well. Happy Birthday to me!

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Ultimate Carrot Cake

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

The king of all carrot cakes. Pineapple, raisins, and spices create an explosion of flavors in this moist, rich cake. Topped with a cream cheese frosting, this one is the bomb!

Course: Cakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Author: Christoph

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 pound finely grated carrots
• ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup golden raisins, plumped
• ¼ cup dried apricots, plumped and diced
• ½ cup pistachios, chopped

Cream Cheese Frosting with Orange Zest

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange, plus 2 tablespoons of juice
• 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar to taste

Method

Cake

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly coating with oil and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, vanilla, and pineapple together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
4. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and plumped fruits just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake on the center rack for about 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
6. Cool cakes in their pans for at least 30 minutes before attempting to remove them. Then, remove from the pans and peel off the parchment paper. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
2. Add extract, juice, and zest and beat just until incorporated.
3. Beat in sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting has the flavor and consistency you want. (You may not need to add all of the sugar).

Assemble

1. Spread a layer of frosting over the top of one half of the cake. Place the second layer on top and spread with frosting. Sprinkle with chopped pistachio nuts.

Cooks Notes

Recipe modified from The Essential Baker