I was actually given this recipe by my roommate in college (too many years ago to admit). We were headed to a cookout and needed to bring dessert. She promised me it was delicious, a family favorite. She didn't lie. It was devoured at that party to rave reviews. I kept the recipe and soon it was my family's favorite cake ever. It was made for every holiday and special occasion and requested for two separate wedding cakes. It has basically become a family legend. 

I have tinkered with and adapted it over the years and I think I can safely say you can't find a more delicious carrot cake around. I'm personally a huge fan of carrot cake (or any fruit breads/cakes) and think they're pretty hard to mess up. But carrot cake often is too dense/oily/squidgy and the cream cheese frosting is too thick or sweet or gluey. I borrowed from other techniques and recipes to avoid those pitfalls. What you end up with is a sturdy but tender, lightly spiced carrot cake with a deliciously smooth, nutty filling and a wonderfully light, tangy cream cheese frosting. If you want to knock some socks off, make this cake!

The Carrot Cake

This carrot cake has three components: cake, filling, frosting. The filling and cake can be made ahead of time and keep quite well but the frosting is best used the day it is made. The filling and frosting have elements which require long cooling periods so be sure to read the whole recipe ahead of time to get the timing right!

Ingredients

[cake]

• 4 eggs

• 2 cups sugar

• 1 1/4 cups neutral flavored oil

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp ginger

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 pound peeled, shredded carrot (I prefer finely shredded)

• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarsely

[filling]

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup flour

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 cup cream

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• 1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarsely

• 1 tsp vanilla

[frosting]

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1/4 cup flour

• 3 Tbsp cornstarch

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into tablespoon sized pieces

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature and cut into tablespoon sized pieces

Instructions

[cake]

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch cake pans.

2. Toast the pecans (make your life easier and toast the cake and filling pecans all at once!): spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes or until fragrant and toasty. Let cool and then chop coarsely.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt and whisk well to combine.

4. In a standing mixer fitted with the whipping attachment, whip together eggs and sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Turn speed to low and slowly drizzle in the oil in a thin stream - this actually takes a while, about a full minute or a little more - until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and stir just until combined.

5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in dry ingredients until almost fully combined with only a few streaks of flour. Add carrots and pecans and gently fold in until evenly distributed.

6. Divide batter evenly between the three pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes if using 8" pans, or around 25 minutes if using 9" - or until the top springs back when pressed lightly or a tester comes out clean.

7. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pans and let cool completely on wire racks.

[filling]

1. If you haven't already, toast the pecans (step 2 above); let cool and chop coarsely.

2. Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a medium saucepan and whisk well. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream until incorporated. Stir in the butter and set over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter is melted and mixture comes to a boil.

3. Turn heat to low and let mixture simmer for 5 - 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly combined and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans. Set aside and let cool completely.

[frosting]

1. Combine flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in milk, being careful to combine thoroughly with no lumps. Set over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Simmer for about 5-6 minutes, still stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and harder to whisk. Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl to let cool completely.

2. When mixture is *completely* cool, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whip attachment. Add vanilla and mix on low just briefly until combined. Add butter one piece at a time, allowing each to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Do the same with the cream cheese. Once all the butter and cream cheese has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Let stand for an hour to firm up.

[assembly]

1. Place one layer of cake on a platter. Spread enough of the filling to generously coat. Add the second layer, repeat with the filling. Top with the final cake layer.

2. Frost top and sides with frosting.

3. Top with toasted coconut, candied pecans, a sprinkle of cinnamon, or anything you want! Keep in fridge if you're in a warm climate and take out an hour or so before serving.

Tips/Notes/Tricks

• I have to be honest, I'm not 100% on the baking time. It varies with ovens, pan sizes, pan number, etc. Start with 25 minutes and determine for yourself after that.

• I could see this being really yummy with a splash of bourbon in the cake and/or filling.

• If you don't like nuts being too intrusive, chop them finer. I myself like a good bite of them.

• You really have to cool the frosting base completely. Otherwise it will melt the butter and cream cheese and you will have a gloopy mess.

• The filling recipe yields a lot. I have almost never used it all. I scoop out the extra into a ziplock bag and freeze it to pull out later as cupcake filling or cake topping or to just spread on waffles/french toast/pancakes as a treat.

• Again, this yields a lot of frosting. Feel free to use it all if you love frosting, or scoop into ziplock and freeze. It is pretty awesome to have frosting on hand for a quick weekday cake. I just recently pulled mine out and frosting an entire 9x9 square blueberry cake.