Carrot Cake: Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees F (180
degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray
with a non stick vegetable spray, two - 9 x 2
inch (23 x 5 cm) cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with a circle
of parchment
paper.
Place the pecans or walnuts on
a baking sheet and bake
for about 6 - 8 minutes or until lightly browned and
fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely.
Peel and grate
the carrots.
In a separate bowl, whisk
or sift
together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon.
In bowl of your electric
stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment
(or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and
vanilla extract and beat, on high speed, until the batter is thick and light colored (about 3 - 4
minutes). With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the oil in a steady stream and then beat
until combined. Beat in the crushed pineapple. Add the flour mixture and beat
just until
incorporated. With a rubber spatula
fold in the grated carrots and chopped
nuts. Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans (about 775
grams of batter in each pan) and bake 25
to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center
of the cakes comes out clean
(the cakes will start to pull away from the sides of the pan).
Remove from oven and let
the cakes cool on a wire rack. After
10
minutes invert the cakes onto a wire rack, remove the pans and parchment
paper, re-invert, and then cool completely before frosting.
Cream
Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of
your electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (or with
a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and
vanilla extract and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl
as needed. Add the lemon juice and beat until
incorporated. Add the soft cream cheese in four to five additions
(scraping the bowl as needed), beating until incorporated and the
frosting is nice and smooth.
To Assemble: Place
one layer of the cake on
a cardboard cake board
or your serving platter. Spread
with about 3/4 cup (150 grams) of the frosting. Gently place the second cake layer onto
the frosting and spread the rest of the frosting over the top and sides of the
cake. If desired, garnish with toasted nuts. The cake can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for about five days.
Serve cold or bring to room temperature before serving. Well wrapped, the cake can also be frozen for about
one month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Serves abut 12 -
14 people.
Note:
You could bake this
cake in a
9 x 13 x 2 inch (23 x 33 x 5 cm) pan. Just increase the baking time to between
30 to 40 minutes.
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