Huge Carrot Cake
Prep
30m
Cook
35m
Total
65m
Bigly says
Folks. Carrot cake. HUGE carrot cake. I know what you're thinking — 'Bigly, carrots? In a cake? That's a vegetable. That's a salad with frosting on it.' Wrong. You're wrong. Sit down. Carrot cake is the most underrated dessert in the entire dessert world, and I'm going to FIX that today. Right here. And I learned to make it from my grandmother, who was, and I mean this with respect, a TOUGH woman. She could intimidate a hurricane. She taught me carrot cake before she taught me how to tie my shoes, that's a fact, look it up, ask her — well, you can't ask her, she's busy, but you can take my word for it.
Let me describe the carrot cake situation out there, because somebody has to, and that somebody is me. It's BAD. You walk into a bakery, you order a slice of carrot cake, what do you get? A dry brown brick with carrot SHREDS the size of pencils sticking out of it. You can SEE them. They're staring at you. That's not a cake, that's a yard sale. And the frosting? Whipped from a bucket. Plastic frosting. Frosting that doesn't even melt because there's nothing real inside it. Embarrassing.
My carrot cake — and grandma's hand was on my shoulder for every step of developing this one — is moist, it's tall, it's three layers, the carrots are GRATED on the small holes so they disappear into the cake and become one with the cake, the way it should be. Pineapple inside for moisture. Real cinnamon. Real nutmeg. And the frosting? Real cream cheese frosting, with REAL CREAM CHEESE, the kind that comes in a block, never a tub. Tub cream cheese is a fraud and we are calling it out today. That's the bottom line.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cupsall-purpose flour
- 2 tspbaking soda
- 1/2 tspbaking powder
- 1 tspkosher salt
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- 1/2 tspground nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1/2 tspground ginger
- 1 cupneutral oil (vegetable or canola)
- 1 cuplight brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cupgranulated sugar
- 4large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tspvanilla extract
- 3 cupscarrots, finely grated(small holes on the box grater — no pencil shreds)
- 8 oz cancrushed pineapple, drained well
- 1 cupwalnuts, toasted and chopped(plus extra for decorating, optional)
- 16 oz (2 blocks)full-fat cream cheese, room temperature (for frosting)(block style, never the tub)
- 1 cup (2 sticks)unsalted butter, room temperature (for frosting)
- 4 cupspowdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tspvanilla extract (for frosting)
- 1/4 tspkosher salt (for frosting)
Steps
- 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment circles, and grease again.
- 2
Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until fragrant. Cool, then chop.
- 3
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- 4
In a large bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each, then whisk in the vanilla.
- 5
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spatula just until almost combined. Fold in the grated carrots, drained pineapple, and 1 cup of toasted walnuts.
- 6
Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and smooth the tops.
- 7
Bake for 28-32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cakes spring back when pressed gently.
- 8
Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out, peel off the parchment, and cool completely on the rack — at least 1 hour. The cakes must be fully cool before frosting.
- 9
Make the frosting: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat the room-temperature cream cheese and butter on medium until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- 10
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat on low until combined, then increase to medium-high and beat 2-3 minutes until fluffy. If too soft, chill 15-20 minutes before frosting.
- 11
Place the first cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread about 3/4 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the second layer. Top with the third layer.
- 12
Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, swooping with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Press extra chopped walnuts around the bottom edge if desired.
- 13
Refrigerate 30 minutes to set the frosting before slicing. The cake keeps, covered and refrigerated, for up to 4 days.
One more thing
You put this cake on the table, three layers tall, blanketed in real cream cheese frosting, and the room gets quiet. People stop talking. The kids stop fighting. The dog sits down. That's the power of a proper carrot cake. You slice it, you serve it, and you watch — the people who said 'oh, I don't really like carrot cake' take one bite and reverse their entire position. Right there at the table. New people. Born-again carrot cake people. Grandma would be proud. Grandma IS proud, she's watching, she always is. Tremendous.
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