Carrot Cake (King Arthur)

Nutty Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

UPDATED 2019

This is an easy carrot cake recipe from King Arthur, the flour company, which includes carrots and nuts only.  It's not the popular crushed pineapple and coconut version, but they also have that recipe on the website.  The oil in this recipe makes the cake ultra moist.

---Barbara

King Arthur's Carrot Cake
(from the King Arthur website with my preferences)

Serves 16.  Makes a 9x13" cake or a 2-layer 9"inch cake

Cake
1.5 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 t. salt
4 large eggs, room temperature ones
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 t. ground cloves
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
3 cups finely grated carrots (about 1 lb)
1.5 cups chopped pecans, toasted
Frosting
1/2 cup (8 T.) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
one 8-ounce package cream cheese (at room temp.)
1/4 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar,  up to 3.5 cups

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease two 9 inch round layer pans, or one 9x13 pan.

Chop and toast the pecans.

Grate the carrots*, enough to make 3 cups, firmly packed, like you would measure brown sugar.

Beat together the oil, sugar, salt, eggs, and spices.

Mix the flour with baking soda, and stir in.

Add the carrots and nuts, and mix until just blended. (Fold in with a spatula.)

Pour into prepared pan(s).

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (mine took 35) or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.  (Don't overbake.)

Allow the cake(s) to cool completely.  If you are using round layer pans, remove the layers from the pans after about 15 minutes, and place them on a rack to cool.  (If making a 9x13",  let the cake cool completely in the pan. Takes an hour or two.)

To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Add the salt and vanilla.  Beat in the sugar.  Add a teaspoon of milk or cream if the frosting is too stiff to spread; add additional sugar if it's too thin.  (Start with 2 cups and taste it and evaluate the texture.  Then, just add a little more at a time, until you get it just right.  I was happy at 2 cups.)

Frost the sheet cake right in the pan.  For the layers, frost the top of one layer, (add the second layer), frost the top of the second layer, then frost the sides of the cake, (if you wish.)  (Or just put lots of frosting in between the layers and on top, leaving the rich dark cake exposed on the side.)

It is a firm, yet moist cake.  And the cream cheese frosting is tangy yet smooth and sweet.

B

*To grate the 3 cups of carrots, I like to use the Cuisinart with the grating blade, but a traditional hand grater works just as well.