Carrot Cake
In the panorama of international recipes, the Carrot Cake is definitely among the most delicious and unmissable Anglo-Saxon desserts.
This carrot cake has a spiced cinnamon batter rich in walnuts and carrots and is filled with a creamy frosting of mascarpone, cream, and Philadelphia, very delicious and not overly sweet.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: International
- Seasonality: All seasons, Fall, Winter and Spring
Ingredients for the Carrot cake
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups carrots (already cleaned and peeled)
- 1 1/3 cups sunflower oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar (dark Muscovado)
- 6 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (quality)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream (Hoplà, already sweetened, chilled in the fridge)
- 1 1/4 cups mascarpone (at room temperature)
- 1 cup cream cheese (Philadelphia, at room temperature)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste baby carrots (for decoration, optional)
Tools
- Bowl
- Food processor
- Spatula
- Mixer Philips electric mixer with 450 W of power
- 3 Pans Decora, 8 inches
Preparation for the Carrot Cake
Peel the carrots and grate them until you obtain 3 cups net.
In a bowl, pour sunflower oil, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and a pinch of salt and mix with a hand whisk.
Add the room-temperature eggs and mix until they are absorbed into the previous mixture.
Add the spices and then, sifting them: flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix everything by hand with a whisk.
Combine the chopped carrots with the batter along with the walnuts, coarsely chopped into granules, and mix everything together
Take 3 cake pans with a diameter of 8 inches, grease them with butter, fit a disk of parchment paper cut to size at the bottom, and then flour the previously buttered edges.
Divide the filling equally into the pans, about 620 g in each. Bake in a static oven at 350°F for 35-40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
Take the cakes out of the pans and, with the help of a serrated knife, remove the dome until the cake is flat, which will have risen during baking.
For the Frosting: Start preparing the frosting by whipping the Hoplà cream in a stand mixer, or in a bowl with electric whisks, leaving it semi-whipped: it should remain soft. Once ready, place it momentarily in the fridge.
Separately, whip the mascarpone, cream cheese, and powdered sugar with a stand mixer or electric whisks until a smooth, dense, and fluffy mixture is obtained.
Add the previously prepared cream to the cream cheese and mascarpone mixture. Gently fold it in from top to bottom with a spatula.
If the frosting turns out to be soft, mix again for a few seconds with electric whisks until the appropriate consistency is obtained, BUT do not over-whip, otherwise, it may curdle.
Place the first cake layer on a perfectly flat serving plate and spread the frosting over the entire surface.
Place the second cake layer and cover again in the same way with more frosting, using a spatula.
Place the last cake layer and make sure they are well stacked on each other and the cake is not crooked or leaning, if so, straighten it and align the layers.
With the help of a spatula, glaze the entire surface without showing the cake and create a spatula effect.
Decorate with baby carrots (optional).
Notes and Tips
It is recommended to use dark brown sugar (muscovado), which is more aromatic, keeps the cakes tastier and spicier, contributing to the typical flavor of this dessert. Dark brown sugar can be found in large supermarkets, if you don’t like it or can’t find it, you can use regular brown sugar.
Walnuts are the typical pairing with this dessert, but if you don’t like them, you can replace them with other nuts in the same quantity, if you are allergic, you can also leave them out.
During the last minutes of baking, keep an eye on the cakes, they may need a few more or less minutes depending on the oven.
The cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Shopping Tips !!!
To prepare the dessert, I used my powerful Philips electric mixer, which has 450 W of power and 5 speeds (+Turbo).
For baking the cake bases, I used 3 cake pans with an 8-inch diameter, these on Amazon by Decora are seamless and provide excellent baking results: consistent heat transfer ensures even browning on the product in baking.
