Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Why I Love This Recipe
This delicious, easy to make cake includes fresh carrots ! Unfortunately, it does not qualify as a vegetable at dinner....
Ingredients You'll Need
For the cake:
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled, plus more for buttering pan
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained (or 1/2 cup pineapple juice)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pound carrots, peeled and grated on the small holes of the grater (about 3 cups, lightly packed)
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger (or 1/3 cup finely diced crystallized ginger)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
For the frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Directions
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (8-inch) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment well too.
Pulse the pineapple in a food processor fitted with a metal blade until it is finely chopped. Put the eggs in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the eggs for 10 seconds. Add the oil, 1/4 cup melted butter, vanilla, carrots, chopped pineapple and grated fresh ginger and mix until combined.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a bowl until combined. Add the wet ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined. Remove and fold in the crystallized ginger. Divide the batter between the 2 (or 3 smaller) pans.
Bake until the tops are a very golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 40 to 55 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack and let them cool completely. Remove the parchment from the bottoms of each cake. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.
Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.
Frost cake and devour!
