Carrot Cake with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

When your cutting board, knife blade and food processor bowl are coated in an orange tint, it’s a good day in the kitchen. It’s carrot cake day. I especially needed this baking day to channel my thoughts away from the boy mama drama, that I was massively underprepared for, with a first grader at home. He’s giving teenage attitude on the daily, however, his school projects still look like this!! 

Except I know, he does not actually LOVE to eat carrots…but we all enjoy them a bit more when baked into a 3 layer cake…right?  And doused in cream cheese frosting?! My second source of motivation, is that Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, and this is my mom’s favorite cake of mine. A surprising plot twist, having always been a strictly chocolate fan, her sweet tooth is evolving.

This is the *MOISTEST* (sorry, not sorry) cake. Thanks to oil, in place of butter, greek yogurt, cashew flour, maple syrup and pineapple juices. It’s highly recommended to bake the cake layers a few days before you would like to serve it, in order to give the plastic -wrapped layers time to firm in the freezer. At minimum, try to freeze them for at least an hour. The cream cheese frosting is also soft and creamy and the colder the cake crumbs are, the smoother the frosting process will be. It’s also important to chill the stacked, filled and crumb coated cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes before applying the final layer. Even with all of that prep work, I found that I needed to embrace a more rustic frosted look and abandon hopes of a completely crumb-free finish. Cream cheese frosting is generally softer and more challenging to pipe. It goes without saying, (because it's a recurrent motto in my baking life) it will taste amazing no matter what route you take!

Cake Batter:

2.5 cups of AP flour

1 cup of cashew flour (I like this)

2 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Kosher salt

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup white sugar

1.5 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or equal amount brown sugar)

1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks (crushed + unsweetened) in its juices

1 cup full-fat, plain greek yogurt, at room temperature

1 1/4 cup avocado oil (can sub vegetable oil/ grapeseed oil)

3 heaping cups of shredded carrot (if you shred a 2 lb. bag of carrots you will have some leftover)

1/2 tsp  ground cardamom

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting/ Filling

1 pound (two 8 ounce packages) of cream cheese, softened

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar (add more for a stiffer frosting)

2 tbs light corn syrup

Pinch of salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp almond extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and butter or grease with coconut oil (I swear by this and it does not leave a coconut flavor at all) 3 - 6 inch round cake pans and line with parchment circles. I like to bake the 3 cake pans on top of one giant sheet pan just for the ease of loading/ unloading the oven and rotating while baking.

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: whisk flour, cashew flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom.

Wash, peel and trim the ends of the carrots. If you have a food processor, fit it with the shredder blade, (easiest method, can also hand grate), add handfuls of small chunks of carrot through the top and pulse.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine eggs, white and brown sugar, maple syrup, pineapple chunks and juices, yogurt, and avocado oil. Mix on low to medium low to break up any clumps and incorporate the eggs. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and across the bottom. Mix again on medium for three minutes.

Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing on low, until no dry pockets remain. Remove bowl from stand mixer and add carrots. Fold in carrots by hand with a rubber spatula.

Evenly divide the cake batter between 3 pans. I like to use a one cup measuring cup with a spout, beginning with two cups of batter per pan. Scrape your mixing bowl as you scoop out batter to keep the carrots from all settling to the bottom. The cakes will dome as they bake, and you will need to level them before stacking and filling anyway, so if they are not perfectly equal, it’s totally fine.

We are baking these low and slow to ensure that extra moistness! Put the cake pans in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Check on them and rotate the pan. They will most likely still be pretty jiggly at this point. Bake another 12 minutes and check again. For me, my total baking time is around 52 minutes. But I usually continue to check every 5 minutes. You want the center to be springy and the edges to be browned. Check with a toothpick and a few moist crumbs are ok. We don’t want wet batter in the centers. Sometimes you need to rotate the cake pans around on the baking tray too or remove one that may have baked faster than others. Allow to cool on baking racks in the pans for 15-20 minutes and then turn them out to finish cooling all the way. Peel off the parchment. Once they are room temperature, you can either wrap them individually to freeze before frosting, or prepare them for stacking and filling. Either way, trim off the domed tops,using a serrated knife, so that you have level layers.

While cakes cool, prepare your frosting. Place the cream cheese in a clean mixing bowl and beat on medium low with the paddle to soften and smooth out. Add the butter and beat on medium until smooth. Scrape down the paddle and bowl. Add both sugars and beat on low for several minutes until well incorporated. Scrape the bowl all around and add the corn syrup. Beat for another minute. Add the salt, cinnamon and almond extract. Mix again until desired consistency is reached.

Once you are ready to fill and frost your cake. Place one cake layer on a cardboard cake circle, cut side up, (on a turntable or pedestal if you have it) and spread about one cup of frosting over the layer. Stack the next layer on top, cut side up. Spread another cup of frosting on that layer. Add the top layer, this time cut side down. Apply frosting to the top of cake and lightly coat the sides for the crumb coat. Allow the cake to set up in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Take the cake out and apply another coat of frosting and your desired finishing touches. Chill again to set, but then allow the cake to be served at room temperature for best flavor and texture!