Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

As a pudding-aholic (or in fact anything sweet and unhealthy-aholic), I love the traditional recipes just as much as the fancy new ones. 
Its even better to take the traditional recipes and give them your own personal twist!

This is my own Carrot Cake Recipe and I am going to share it with you guys...

I made this cake for my Nan's birthday on 2nd May and I am still eating it now. It is still perfectly moist and delicious!

Ingredients

For the cake: 

• 300g or 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 120g or 2/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar 
• 225ml or 1 cup oil (any)
• 110ml or 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• splash of milk
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g or 1/2 cup white choc chips
• 300g or 2 1/4 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 250g or 2 1/2 cups finely grated carrots 
• 80 g or 2/3 cup chopped pecans 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 450g or 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces or 110g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar to taste

  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by lightly coating with butter and lining with parchment paper. I simply spread the butter on using a paper towel and then cut out two long strips of baking paper for the sides and two circles for the bottom.
2. Beat the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, oil, yogurt, milk, and vanilla together in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg. (You will get a fluffier cake if you sieve them all in)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in the carrots, pecans and chic chips just until evenly distributed throughout the batter. (Don't over mix)
5. Pour the mixture into the lined pans. Bake on the center oven rack until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. This is usually about 30-40 minutes for two 9” cake pans. Cook them on the same shelf if you can, or one at a time for an even result.
6. Cool cakes in their pans for at least 15 minutes before removing them.  Then, remove them from the pans and peel off the parchment paper. Make sure the cakes are completely cooled before frosting and assembling them. It is important that they are totally cooled or the icing will melt and run off.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  
2. Add vanilla and beat. 
3. Beat in sieved sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting has the consistency you desire. You may not need to add all of the sugar. 

To assemble the cake:

1. Place the bottom layer on whatever you would like to serve it on. I put it straight into a box so that my Nanna could take the cake home with her. 
2. Scoop about 1/2 of the cream cheese frosting onto the bottom cake layer.  Spread the frosting evenly over the surface. 
3. Carefully place the second layer on top.  Scoop the other 1/2 of the frosting on the top of the second cake layer and spread evenly over the surface. 
4. I then sprinkled cinnamon around the sides and inserted this cake decoration which I got from Asos here, but you can decorate how you would like with chopped pecans etc...

I hope you liked this recipe and if you recreate it use the hashtag #littleredbakes and tag me @kimberlina94

Peace.

*Recipe adapted from Tastes Better From Scratch