Spiced Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe, intro and photograph by Lisa Harris of Lisa Harris Pantry, creator of the Morning Sunshine Breakfast Cookie
“I hope you can see from this photo, I couldn’t resist eating another forkful of cake before taking the photo! It was that good! Made with heirloom carrots (although any carrots would work), the deep color of this cake complemented the dense texture and flavor. I can’t say enough good things about it! I also found a great new product when shopping for cream cheese to make the frosting. I have provided a link in the ingredient section.”
Ingredients:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground allspice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup safflower oil or canola oil
3 cups peeled and finely grated carrots
One 14-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well
1 cup shredded dried coconut (optional)
1 package Greek Cream Cheese (or regular cream cheese)
1/2 package or 2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degress. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil and set aside. In a large bowl, place the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt and mix well. In a medium bowl, add the egg, brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in the vanilla, then stir in the safflower oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together well. Stir in the carrots, pineapple, coconut. Pour the batter into the cake pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool on a wire rack.
To make the icing: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, break up the sugar to remove lumps; add the cream cheese and mix well. When completely cool, spread a layer of frosting on the top of one of the cakes, then place the other cake on top of the frosted cake. Spread a layer of frosting on top of the second cake and all around the sides of both cakes.
