Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Making the carrot cake batter

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Spread the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place them in the preheated oven for about 7 - 10 minutes, making sure to move them around halfway through. The nuts should turn a slightly darker shade and smell toasted. Do not let them burn, so keep an eye on them.
2. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the nuts cool down. Once cooled, reserve any extra nuts to decorate, and chop the rest into smaller pieces. Slightly smaller than coarse-chopped, but a little bigger than a very fine chop. Set aside.
3. Wash and dry the carrots. Peel the carrots and then shred them using the finer shredding option. The holes in the grater should be about ⅛ inch (3 mm). Set the the carrots aside.
4. Preheat the oven again to 350°F / 180°C. Prepare 3 9-inch round cake pans (or 8-inch pans) by spreading a thin layer of butter inside each cake pan. Line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper and dust the sides with flour. Set aside.
5. In a bowl, place a sieve on top and sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices together. Set these dry ingredients aside until needed.
6. If using crushed pineapple - Open a can of crushed pineapple and place about ¾ cup of the pineapple in a sieve over a bowl or jug. Let it sit for about 1 minute to allow any excess moisture to drain out. Knock the sieve against the bowl a few times, but don’t squeeze the juices out of the pineapple. Then measure out the amount of crushed pineapple needed and set it aside.
7. In a large mixing bowl, mix the oil, salt, and both white and brown sugar together. Whisk this mixture to break any lumps in the brown sugar.
8. Add the eggs, vanilla, and apple sauce or partially drained crushed pineapple, and whisk to combine well. You can use a hand whisk or your stand mixer for this - just make sure that the eggs are mixed in well.
9. When the wet ingredients are mixed in well, it’s time to add the dry ingredients.
10. Add about ⅓ of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently fold it in to mix. While there is still some white streaks visible, add another ⅓ of dry ingredients into the batter.
11. Fold this into the batter, making sure there are no lumps. While there are still some white streaks visible, add the shredded carrots and chopped nuts.
12. Gently fold in these ingredients into the batter. But before they are completely mixed through, add the last of the dry ingredients and fold it in along with the carrots and nuts until everything is well-mixed. Take care not to overmix the batter.
13. Using a measurement cup or ice cream scoop, evenly divide the batter between the 3 cake pans. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly and knock each cake pan on your countertop a few times to evenly spread out the batter.
14. Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, rotating once halfway through, if needed.
15. The cake is done when a clean toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few dry crumbs attached.
16. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. While the cake is still warm, flip the cakes over onto a wire rack to cool completely. I like to place parchment paper on the wire rack, so that the cake layers are resting on parchment paper.
17. Once the cake layers are completely cooled, wrap each layer separately with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill overnight - or in the freezer for a few hours to chill quickly.

Cream cheese frosting

1. Follow the instructions here to make the cream cheese frosting recipe.
2. Use immediately.

Filling the layer cake and decorating

1. Place a chilled cake layer on a plate or cake turntable. Make sure to keep the flat side facing down.
2. Using an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop, portion out an amount of frosting on top of the cake layer. I use about 4 - 5 cookie scoops. Evenly spread this frosting on top using an offset spatula.
3. Place the second layer on top and repeat with an equal amount of frosting.
4. Finally place the third layer on top, with the flat side of the cake now facing up. Gently press down on the cake to help the cake layers stick to each other.
5. Apply a generous amount of cream cheese frosting on the sides of the cake, making sure to gently fill in the gaps between the cake layers as well. Crumb coat the sides of the cake by smoothing the sides of the cake, so that a very thin layer of frosting is applied to the sides. Spread a small amount of frosting on top of the cake to crumb coat the top as well.
6. As you do this, make sure the sides and top of the cake are straight. Place the cake in the fridge to set the crumb coating (about 30 - 60 minutes).
7. Once the crumb coating is set, spread the final layer of frosting on top.
8. For a simple cake, just spread a layer of frosting on top and decorate the top with the remaining nuts. OR you can spread another layer of frosting on the sides of the cake as well.
9. For a rustic look, spread the frosting with an offset spatula and create swirls with the spatula or spoon (see pictures in the post). Use a bench scraper to create smooth sides if you like a more professional finish.
10. Decorate the cake with the extra nuts that you set aside at the beginning.
11. Store the cake in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Serving tips

1. When cutting the cake, use a warm, dry knife to cut slices. Warm the sharp knife blade by holding it under hot tap water and then wipe it clean before cutting into the cake. And rather than pressing down on the cake, use a small back and forth sawing motion to cut clean slices. Clean and warm the knife between each cut to get neat slices.