I love a good Carrot Cake. You come across chocolate, vanilla, even red velvet cake often enough. Carrot Cake is a nice change of pace. Similar to my Spiced Carrot Cake, this cake is flavored with sweet cinnamon and warm ginger. Unlike my traditional recipe, I've included a sprinkle of orange zest and a spoonful of dried cardamom for bright citrus flavor. I've also studded the moist, fluffy cake with a handful of sweet, chewy raisins just for a bit of textural contrast.
This cake capped my menu for a very casual Easter lunch. As such, I decided I'd serve it simply as a single layer cake with naked edges, a swirl of cream cheese frosting on top, and sliced into modest squares. Of course, if you were looking for more of a statement in the center of your table, you could easily double the recipe and build yourself a classic tiered cake covered in swoops of frosting. You could even consider decorating the edges of the tiers with crushed pecans for a beautiful contrast in color and texture.
No matter the size or shape of your cake, it's sure to be delicious!
Citrus Spiced Carrot Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
· Butter, for pans
· 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
· 1 cup sugar
· 1 tsp baking soda
· 1 tsp ground cinnamon
· ½ tsp dried ginger
· ¼ tsp cardamom
· 1/8 tsp ground clove
· 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
· Zest of ½ orange
· ½ tsp salt
· 2 eggs
· 3/4 cups vegetable oil
· 1 ½ cups grated carrots
· ¾ cups chopped pecans
· ½ cup raisins
For the Frosting
· 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
· 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
· 8oz powdered sugar
· 1 tsp vanilla extract
· 1 carrot
For the cake…Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9-inch round cake pan or an 8x8 square pan; line bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, orange zest, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, blend until combined. Fold in carrots, pecans, and raisins.
Pour into pan. Smooth the surface of the batter. Bake for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and discard the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting.
For the frosting…beat the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl until smooth and fluffy using a hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and incorporate into the cream cheese mixture.
Transfer the cooled cake to a serving platter. Dollop the frosting over the top of the cake and spread evenly over the cake using an off-set spatula or butter knife.
If desired, decorate the cake with carrot curls. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrot. Discard the peels. Stroke the peeler along the carrot to make ribbons of various lengths and widths. Artfully arrange the carrot curls on the top of the cake.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from the fridge a bit in advance and serve at room temperature.
Serves 6 to 8
GF Friendly
Gluten Free Friendly!
Substitute Cup4Cup in this batter for a gluten free cake.
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