Layered Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
Serves: 16
Hands On Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Ingredients
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
4 large eggs
2 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon oil or lemon extract
Instructions
To make the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and allspice.
In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, oil, honey and eggs. Fold in the flour mixture, followed by the carrots, raisins and pecans.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake until the center of the cakes springs back when lightly touched, about 40 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and lemon oil and continue to beat until smooth and light.
Frost the cake and serve.
Nutrition
Per serving, with Cream Cheese Frosting: 663 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 5 grams protein, 76 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 34 grams fat (12 grams saturated), 78 milligrams cholesterol, 298 milligrams sodium
About the recipe
This cake is dense and moist, but with a light crumb. It’s sweet, with a strong but not overpowering spice flavor. It gets a lot of good old-fashioned rustic texture from raisins, nuts and medium-coarse carrots and uses a little honey for a rich flavor.