Tell the truth that sometimes those beautiful tall and soft American cakes with icing on top are really tempting… and why not try your hand at a true classic like the Carrot Cake? A soft cake with natural ingredients, carrot pulp and many fragrant spices which makes it perfect for autumn and also makes you think of Christmas!
Choose the icing you prefer, the classic sugar-based one or the Philadelphia-based one for an afternoon tea, perhaps while it’s raining outside… 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 and ½ cups of sugar (450 g)
- 1 cup of seed oil (220 ml)
- 4 eggs (yolks and whites separated)
- 5 tablespoons of hot water
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (290 g)
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt (a generous pinch)
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon clove powder
- 3 large raw carrots, finely grated
- Optional: 60 g of chopped walnuts (also pecans).
Vanilla frosting:
- 2 cups of sifted icing sugar (250 g)
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla seeds
- 2-3 tablespoons of milk
or Philadelphia soft icing (delicious)
- 90g cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 200 g of icing sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons of milk
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C.
Prepare a donut mold, I used one of the heavy aluminum ones from Nordikware which can easily be purchased online on various websites. These molds are of excellent quality and allow you to create donuts with very sophisticated shapes. To ensure a good result, brush the entire internal surface with melted butter very carefully and lightly flour it, alternatively you can use the detaching spray to always brush and then the flour.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil and mix quickly.
Add the eggs and beat them well with a whisk for a long time, adding the hot water until the mixture is smooth and clear.
In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients and then add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture a little at a time, mixing well to mix everything together. At this point add the chopped carrots and broken walnuts and mix gently with a spatula.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and add them to the egg mixture and mix until smooth.
Pour into the previously prepared mold and level, tap the mold 2-3 times on the kitchen table to level and eliminate any air bubbles.
Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the cake is done when tested with a toothpick. Cool in the mold for 10 minutes and then invert the mold onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Once cool you can remove it from the mold and place it on a rack to glaze it.
Prepare the frosting while the cake cools.
Vanilla icing: mix all the icing ingredients in a small bowl until it reaches a soft but not too runny consistency and then spoon it onto the cake and let it solidify. You can add sugar and sprinkles to make it more beautiful 🙂
Cheese Frosting: Mix all frosting ingredients in a small bowl until smooth and spreadable. Using a spatula or a piping bag, cover the cake with a layer of at least 1 cm and decorate with sprinkles or small sugar carrots or almond paste. If you want to use this icing, I recommend using a very linear mold (round cake or simple plum cake), without reliefs or particular decorations, in order to better distribute the cream cheese.
Look at this beautiful creation found on the web (royalty free image from PixaBay)
