Easter: Layer Carrot Cake

Easter is a-coming, and like always, that gives me plenty of excuses to bake like a madwoman the next few weeks. Bear with me. I started with a three-layer carrot cake. No dessert is more appropriate with Easter than a classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. This is the first carrot cake I’ve baked from scratch, but I have to say, it came out pretty darn good! It’s moist, heavy and spicy - all the requirements for a fantastic carrot cake! Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Carrot Cake recipe: Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup water
- 1 pound carrots (8 to 10 medium carrots), peeled and shredded on a box grater or in a food processor (about 2 ¾ cups)
- 2 cups pecans (1 cup finely chopped for batter, 1 cup coarsely chopped for decorating sides of cake) (I omitted the pecans for the cake batter and used sugar-roasted peanuts for garnish)

Instructions:
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
- Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Add vanilla, water, and carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then finely chopped pecans.
- Scrape batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely.
- Using a serrated knife, trim rounded top of 2 cakes. Place one trimmed cake, cut side up, on a serving platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with second trimmed cake, cut side down. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with remaining cake. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Gently press coarsely chopped pecans onto sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 1 day, covered) before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting recipe: my own

Ingredients:
- 2 packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, preferably clear vanilla
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions:
- Whip the heavy cream until firm peaks form; refrigerate.
- Beat the cream cheese on low speed until fluffy. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and mix to combine. Fold in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes before using.


Carrot cake batter. When you think about it, it’s quite odd to add shredded carrots to a cake. I wonder who came up with that ... I bet it was the Easter bunny!

Icing ...

1.

2. (sugar-roasted peanuts)

3.

What’s a carrot cake without a carrot piped on top?

"Beneath this towering yet unpretentious appearance lies multiple layers of moist, mildly spiced cake that are flecked with carrots and enveloped by a generous coating of cream cheese frosting."
- MarthaStewart.com

I recommend waiting a bit before eating a slice (yes, I know it’s hard to wait). For some reason, the cake tasted even better after a few hours. I guess all the spices and flavors get really infused after a while.