Spiced Carrot Cake Cooks Illustrated Recipes

CARROT LAYER CAKE(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• CAKE: Set a rack to the middle of your oven and preheat to 350-degrees. Grease an 18"x 13" rimmed baking sheet, line it with parchment paper, and then grease the parchment paper too.
• Shred four carrots on the large holes of a box grater or using the shedding disk and your food processor.
• In a medium bowl, add together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Whisk together until combined.
• In another large bowl add sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Use a whisk to combine until smooth. Gently stir in carrots and currants with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed. Finally, add in flour mixture and fold in with your rubber spatula, but only until it is just combined.
• Empty batter onto baking sheet. Use an offset spatula to smooth surface and ensure the batter is an even depth. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating half-way through baking, until the center is firm when touched.
• Allow cake to cool for 5 minutes in pan set on a wire rack. Flip the cake onto a wire rack then immediately re-flip back onto a second wire rack. The cake should be resting with the parchment side down. Allow the cake to cool for another 30 minutes.
• FROSTING: While the cake is cooking, toast your pecans and chop them coarsely. Cut your cream cheese into 12 equal-size pieces, but keep it refrigerated until you are ready to use in step 3.
• Add the butter, sugar, buttermilk powder, vanilla extract and salt to the bowl of a standing mixer. Mix using the paddle attachment on low-speed for 2 minutes; scrape down the bowl as necessary.
• Increase mixer speed to medium-low, then add cream cheese one piece at a time. Mix for 2 minutes until the frosting is smooth.
• ASSEMBLY: Put cooled cake on a cutting board and cut into equal halves cross-wise. Cut length-wise so that you have 4 equal pieces, measuring about 6″x8″ each.
• Cut out a 6″x8″ rectangle out of stiff cardboard. Put the first of the cake piece on the cardboard. Use a spatula to spread 2/3-cup of frosting over layer. Repeat with two more layers.
• Place the final cake layer on top. Remove any crumbs from your spatula and frost the top with a 1-cup of frosting.
• Frost the sides of the cake with your remaining frosting. You just need enough frosting to hold the chopped pecans, not completely hide all the crumbs.
• Holding the cake with one hand, use your other hand to gently press the chopped pecans onto the side of your cake. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

SPICED CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Zest the orange, cover and set aside for the frosting.
• Juice the orange, add the chopped apricots and mix with the orange juice, leave to soak for at least 3 hours.
• When ready to make the cake, preheat the oven to 300F and line the base of a 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper.
• Sift the flour together with the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and the baking soda into a mixing bowl.
• Add the brown sugar, chopped pecans, carrots and the apricots with the juice, (reserve 2 tablespoons of the orange juice), mix well.
• Beat together the eggs with the oil, add to the mix and mix again.
• Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes.
• Test with a wooden skewer whether the cake is done, (it should come out clean and dry), otherwise cook a bit longer.
• Turn the cake out of the tin and let it cool until slightly warm.
• Mix the two tablespoons of Grand Marnier and the two tablespoons of the reserved orange juice, return the cake to the tin, poke holes in the top and drizzle the liquid over to soak up the juices.
• Beat together the cream cheese, confectioners sugar and the orange zest, taste if you find it sweet enough, if not, add more sugar.
• Take the cake out of the tin, remove parchment paper and spread the frosting on the top.
• Decorate with the halved pecans.

SIMPLE CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING(COOK'S ILLUSTRATED

Steps:

• For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 by 9-inch baking pan (or 2, 9" round cake pans) with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment and spray parchment.
• 2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside.
• 3. In food processor fitted with large shredding disk, shred carrots; transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. Wipe out food processor work bowl and fit with metal blade. Process granulated and brown sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With machine running, add oil through feed tube in steady stream. Process until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape mixture into medium bowl. Stir in carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours.
• 4. For the frosting: When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor work-bowl until combined, about 5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners' sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.
• 5. Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Invert cake onto wire rack, peel off parchment, then invert again onto serving platter. Using icing spatula, spread frosting evenly over surface of cake. Cut into squares and serve. (Cover leftovers and refrigerate for up to 3 days.).

SPICED CARROT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush an 8-inch round cake pan with oil. Place a round of waxed or parchment paper in the bottom; brush with oil, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cardamom, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sugars, yogurt, and oil until smooth. Gently mix egg mixture into dry ingredients until moistened; mix in carrots. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent cake with aluminum foil). Cool in pan, 15 minutes. Turn out of pan, remove paper, and cool completely on a rack, right side up. Apply glaze, or dust with confectioners' sugar.