King Arthur's Carrot Cake

By kelsa94

Moist, dense, and flavorful — who doesn't love carrot cake? Especially when it's topped with rich cream cheese icing. This much-requested recipe is easily customized to taste. Use any combination of add-ins you like, including raisins or coconut; just keep the total of any (or all) additions to 1 1/2 cups.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 2 2 2 cups sugar
• 1 1 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 4 4 large eggs
• 1 1 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 2 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 2 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 3 3 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
• FROSTING
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 8-ounce 8-ounce package one 8-ounce package cream cheese
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla OR 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 1/2 cups glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
• TIPS
• to 1-pound 18 substitute a 1-pound bag of chocolate chips for the 18 ounces (3 cups) called for.
• These cookies make wonderful ice cream sandwiches. Sandwich two cookies around a scoop of softened ice cream — we especially like Ben & Jerry's (Phish Food!)

Preparation

Step 1

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two 9" round layer pans, or one 9" x 13" pan.

Beat together the oil, sugar, salt, eggs, and spices. Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir in. Add the carrots and nuts, and mix until just blended. Pour into the prepared pan(s).

Bake the cake(s) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Allow the cake(s) to cool completely before frosting. If you're using round layer pans, remove the layers from the pans after about 15 minutes, and place them on a rack to cool.

To make the frosting: Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the salt and vanilla. Beat in the sugar. Add a teaspoon of milk or cream if the frosting is too stiff to spread; add additional sugar if it's too thin.

Frost the sheet cake right in the pan. For the layers, frost the top of one layer, top with the second layer, and frost the top and sides of the cake.