Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake is such a classic, so I thought I would share my favorite recipe. Don't worry you won't taste the carrots, so give this cake a try. The texture is soft, and slightly spongy. The flavor is very pleasing, but is a little difficult to describe (or at least for me). This cake has a sweet taste and a wonderful aroma from the sweet/spicy cinnamon and cloves. Serves about 12-15.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, regular ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 pound ( about 6-7 medium) carrots, grated

1 1/2 Cups ( 10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

1/2 Cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar

4 Large eggs

1 1/2 Cups vegetable, safflower, or canola oil

For frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool. Don't use fat-free cream cheese.

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 Tablespoon sour cream.

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 Cups (5 ounces) confectioner's sugar

1. For The Cake: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position; heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the parchment.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. In a food processor fitted with the large shredding disk, shred the carrots. Add the carrots to the dry ingredients. Wipe out the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process both the sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube in a steady stream. Process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 seconds longer. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated, and no streaks of flour remain.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan  on a wire rack for about 2 hours.
5. For Frosting: When the cake is cool beat the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla on medium-high speed until combined. On low speed, beat in the confectioner's sugar until combined. You can either keep the cake in the pan and frost it, or invert the cake onto a serving plate, remove the parchment, and then frost it.

From: Baking Illustrated