epicurious4.9
BA’s Best Carrot Cake
Our best carrot cake recipe gets a crunch from toasted walnuts and a boozy punch from rum-plumped raisins, which are optional but recommended.
👥 12 Servings👤 Claire Saffitz📖 epicurious
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●pan
- ●saucepan
- ●oven
- ●baking sheet
- ●bowl
- ●whisk
- ●spatula
- ●knife
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Cake
2
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat two 9"-diameter cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper rounds; lightly coat rounds with nonstick spray. If using raisins and rum, heat together in a small saucepan over low just until warm, about ⏱️ 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit until liquid is absorbed and raisins are plump, 15–⏱️ 20 minutes.
3
Meanwhile, toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 8–⏱️ 10 minutes; let cool. Combine carrots and buttermilk in a medium bowl.
chopped walnuts1 cupcarrots, peeled, coarsely grated1 poundbuttermilk, room temperature1 cup
4
Whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until pale and thick, about ⏱️ 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually stream in oil. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with carrot mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients; mix until smooth. Fold in raisins, if using, and walnuts with a rubber spatula. Scrape batter into prepared pans.
ground cinnamon2 teaspoonsground ginger2 teaspoonsbaking powder2 teaspoonslarge eggs, room temperature4granulated sugar1 cupvanilla extract1 teaspoonchopped walnuts1 cup
5
Bake cakes, rotating pans halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35–⏱️ 45 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cakes cool ⏱️ 10 minutes. Run a knife around sides of cakes and invert onto wire rack; remove parchment. Let cool completely.
6
Frosting and assembly
7
Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl until smooth, about ⏱️ 1 minute. Beat in vanilla extract and salt. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in powdered sugar. Increase speed to high and beat frosting until light and fluffy, about ⏱️ 2 minutes.
cream cheese (such as Philadelphia cream cheese), room temperature12 ouncesvanilla extract1 teaspoonpowdered sugar4 cups
8
Place 1 cake, domed side down, on a platter. Spread ¾ cup frosting evenly over top. Place remaining cake, domed side down, on top. Spread top and sides with 1¼ cups frosting and chill ⏱️ 30 minutes to let frosting set. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides, swirling decoratively. Top with Candied Carrot Coins, if desired.
Candied Carrot Coins (optional)
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