Double Carrot Carrot Cake with the Creamiest Cream Cheese Frosting
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Double the goodness, double the fun
Double carrots, double the fun, right?! This carrot cake has both puréed carrots and shredded carrots in the mix. The result is an impossibly moist, light and tender cake. It has a good kick of cinnamon, besides ginger, nutmeg and cardamom. This time I folded chopped walnuts, which I toast before to bring more nuttiness out of them. It’s simply a perfect rendition of a classic carrot cake. I know you won’t be able to eat just one piece.
And why double, you maybe wondering? Well, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I started making carrot cakes with pureed carrots so my daughter Mariana could eat them and actually eat the carrots. Since she wasn’t able to chew, she never ate the actual carrots in carrot cakes, which is her favorite. I still like to make her carrot cakes for certain special dates, but after she left this Earth and went to Heaven, I started making carrot cakes with the traditional shredded carrots. But for her birthday last week I thought, why the heck I haven’t blend the two?!
Like it happens with pumpkin bread, adding puréed carrots to the batter adds water, creating lots of moisture that gets trapped inside the cake. When you add the water from the shredded carrot plus the moistness of the vegetable oil, the result is a very light cake. For this cake I also used cake flour, which makes the cake even lighter and tender. You can use all-purpose flour interchangeably as well, the cake will be slightly dense, kind of a quick bread, but still incredibly flavorful!
If you want to make a carrot cake this spring, I’m going to be super bias and tell you to make this one because it’s simply the best! I have other carrot cakes in the blog and the core recipe is basically the same, so it will be impossible to go wrong with any of them!! Here are my notes on making this cake so you can prep ahead.
Double Carrot Cake how to:
You can make some of the components of this carrot cake in advance, like the frosting and the pureed carrots. You can make the cake and frosting a day ahead and assemble the day you’re planning on serving it. It will taste better this way!! The point is you have options to make your life easier.
If making the frosting one or more days ahead, you’ll need to let it come down to room temperature for about 10 minutes before re-whipping. If making the same day you are baking the cake (and plan to frost it that day too), make it while the cake is baking, not after, because it will still need 20 minutes to chill.
For this frosting recipe it’s super important that you mix the frosting ingredinets in the specified order. Adding the chilled cream cheese as the last step is crucial for preventing cream cheese frosting getting runny.
For making the cake, I like to start by steaming and blending the carrots so the purée has a bit of time to cool down.
Next, I preheat the oven at 325° and toast the walnuts for 10 minutes. You can go up to 15, depending on how slow or quickly yours are toasting.
Shred the carrots with a medium cut. If the chunks are too thick they won’t cook properly and if they are too thin they will get mushy and basically disappear into the batter.
Now it’s just mixing all the wet ingredients, including the pureed carrots, then adding the dry ingredinets mixture. Finish batter up by folding the toasted chopped walnuts and shredded carrots. Transfer to cake pans and bake.
If making the cakes ahead, wrap them tightly a few times in plastic paper as soon as they cool down.
When it’s cake time, simply spread this creamy cream cheese frosting in between the cakes and all around.
Because of the cream cheese frosting, any leftovers should be kept on the fridge. Loosely cover it with aluminum foil or a kitchen towel. I also like to “paste” a wet paper towel on the open area of the cake to prevent it from becoming dry.
What you’ll need:
I used King Arthur’s cake flour, make all the difference!
If you haven’t already, you should invest in a good and reliable kitchen scale. It’s a game changer for total baking success. This kitchen scale is the one I have, it’s fully digital and has the tare function! This allows you to bring the scale to zero and keep measuring and adding ingredients in the same bowl. No need to transfer or use different bowls for each ingredient.
These are my 6” cake pans. You know I use the all the time!
Using a cookie scoop for transferring frosting is a game changer! The process will be way less messier and cleaner!
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Mariana’s birthday is always like my kick-off for spring. Flowers and butterflies is what she’s all about! I’m so excited for all the spring bakes that are coming to the blog!! What are you planning on making?! Drop it below! See you soon!
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Double Carrot Carrot Cake
Ingredients
Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
◯ Butter (salted or unsalted), a bit softened - 8 TBSP, 113g (1 stick, ½ cup)
◯ Vanilla extract (optional) - ¼ Tsp
◯ Confectioner’s sugar, sifted - 3 cups, 384g
◯ Cream cheese (in bricks, not whipped, and still chilled) - 16 oz. (2 single boxes)
Double Carrot Cake
◯ Walnuts - 1 cup, 100g
◯ Cake flour, preferably unbleached (I used King Arthur cake flour) - 1 ½ cup, 230g
◯ Baking powder - 2 ¼ Tsp, 9g
◯ Cinnamon - 1 TBSP, 7g
◯ Ground ginger - 1 Tsp
◯ Ground nutmeg - ½ Tsp
◯ Ground cardamom - ½ Tsp
◯ Fine sea salt - ½ Tsp, 3g
◯ Natural granulated sugar - ½ cup, 100g
◯ Brown sugar, packed - ½ cup, 97g
◯ Vegetable Oil - ½ cup, 104g
◯ Eggs, preferably organic - 2
◯ Vanilla extract - 2 Tsp
◯ Puréed carrots, cooled down - ½ cup, 137g (about 2 to 3 medium and thin carrots)
◯ Shredded carrots - 1½ cup, 180g (about 3 to 4)
Note: If not using a scale, spoon and level your measuring cup, never overpack it with flour.
Details
Yield:
A 3 tier 6” cake or a 2 tier 8” cake
Total time:
2 hours, including cooling down and chilling times (you can make the components in advance as well.)
Active time:
10 minutes for making the frosting, 20 minutes for cooking and shredding the carrots, 10 minutes for making the batter
Baking time:
25 minutes
Equipment:
hand mixer, 6” or 8” cake pans, measuring and mixing bowls and spoons
Steps:
To make the frosting:
Put the 8 tablespoons of softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (you can use an electric hand mixer with the beaters attached). Beat for 3 minutes in medium speed (#4 in the KitchenAid) until butter is pale and fluffy. Add the ¼ teaspoon of vanilla to combine.
(In the meantime, take out the 2 boxes of cream cheese out of the fridge. With a small spatula or butter knife, press it down as much as you can to make it thinner.)
Stop mixer and add the sifted 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar. Start mixing in the lowest speed just to incorporate the sugar, then increase speed to medium again. Beat for 2 to 3 minutes.
Change paddle for wire/whisk attachment. Add the cream cheese and mix still in the lowest speed. You will need to stop after a minute or two to scrape down the cream cheese creeping up the bowl and the whisk. Do this a couple of times to make sure the cream cheese is getting broken down. When cream cheese is fairly incorporated, increase mixer 1 speed (#2 in the KitchenAid) and mix about 3 minutes, until cheese has completely mixed in and there are no lumps of cream cheese. You may burst the mixing a couple of times by increasing one speed for 25 seconds, then return to your speed. And you may need to scrape once more the frosting to make sure the cream cheese is being incorporated. Frosting should taste as sweet cream cheese. If you’re still getting the dry feel of the powdered sugar, keep mixing until that’s gone, a minute or 2 more.
Cover with a plastic wrap paper and place it on the fridge. Let it loose the chill and become malleable before frosting the cake.
If making a couple of days in advance, let it out of the fridge until it’s soft, around 20 minutes, and re-whipp in slow speed 1 to 2 minutes (see notes above for more tips).
To make the Carrot Cake:
Grease three 6” or two 8” cake pans with butter or baking spray or line them with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 325°. Place walnuts in a baking sheet. Roast 10 to 15 minutes, just until they are warm and start to smell fragrant. Remove from oven and let them cool.
Take walnuts out of the oven and increase temperature to 350°. When walnuts cool down, roughly chop them in small pieces.
Over a medium bowl sift together the 1 ½ cup of flour, the 2 ¼ teaspoon of baking powder, the 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, the 1 teaspoon of ginger, the ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, the ½ teaspoon of cardamom and the ½ teaspoon of sea salt.
In a large mixing bowl place the ½ cup of granulated sugar and the ½ cup of brown sugar. Pour the ½ cup of vegetable oil and using a hand electric mixer or stand mixer beat on medium speed (#4 in the Kitchen Aid) until you have a grainy paste, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and beat until well incorporated. Add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla and the ½ cup of puréed carrots and mix just until well incorporated
Stop mixer and add the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated. Small streaks of flour are ok. Add the chopped walnuts and shredded carrots and mix in a folding motion.
Pour batter in the cake pans, divided equally. Gently spread across the top if needed to make sure the batter is evenly distributed. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes if using a 6” cake pan, 30 to 35 minutes if using an 8” one, until a toothpick comes out clean after you inserted through the center. Let the cakes cool down for 5 to 7 minutes before flipping them and removing from pan to let them cool down completely. Even out cake tops with a serrated knife if necessary. If you need to frost them right away, place them in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to speed up the process.
Frosting the cake:
Scoop about a cup of frosting and place it over one of the cakes. With an offset spatula or back of a large spoon spread it evenly. Repeat with the other cakes. Top it with more frosting and cover the sides, making gentle swirls motions.
Place cake on the fridge before cutting for 20 to 30 minutes to set the frosting.
