Rustic Carrot Pecan Cake
If you’re anything like me, you agree carrots belong on your dinner plate or in a juice mixed with some oranges. I’ve always been skeptical about carrot based desserts and I officially regret waiting this long to try it out. I usually buy the bag of carrots from Costco and if you’ve ever been to Costco you know it’s a BIG bag. I found a recipe that calls for 6 carrots which was exactly where my comfort level was 😆.
This particular recipe calls for you to stack the tops of each cake one on top of the other with the bottoms facing the bottom and the top. This also creates a “rustic” look as you won’t be able to cover it 100% with the frosting. Unlike the choice of frosting in the recipe, I decided to go with my go choice of frosting: whipped cream!
Ingredients for carrot cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups canola or other vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3 cups grated peeled carrots (5 to 6 medium carrots)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Ingredients for frosting
2 cups of heaving whipping cream
2 packets of vanilla sugar powder
Directions for cake
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper then grease the top of the paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and the cinnamon until well blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugars, and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until combined.
Switch to a large rubber spatula. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in the carrots, nuts, and raisins.
Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake until the tops of the cake layers are springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes.
Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, peel off parchment paper and cool completely. (If you find that a cake layer is stuck to the bottom of the pan, leave the cake pan upside down and allow gravity to do its thing).
Directions for whipping cream frosting
In a mixer, mix 2 cups of heavy whipping cream with 2 packets of vanilla sugar on high for 5-8 min.
