Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 10
Ingredients
- 4 medium to big carrots
- 1 medium carrot grated
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ½ cup milk (any type)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature to butter the pans
Cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 lemon juice (about 1 tbsp)
Instructions
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First of all, peel the 4 carrots and cut them small.
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Put the carrots pieces in a saucepan and add 2 cups of slightly salted water.
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Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
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Add the 2 tablespoons of honey. Let cook for 2 more minutes. The water should be absorbed completely. Let cool.
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Puree the carrots in a food processor until smooth. In this recipe, I obtained 2 cups carrots puree.
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
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In a bowl of a stand mixer whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy (you can use a wooden spoon if you don’t have a stand mixer).
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Add the pureed carrots (about 2 cups), the grated carrot and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes.
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Add the oil slowly while constantly whisking, then add the milk and whisk more.
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Add the juice and zest of the lemon.
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Pour in the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
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Slightly butter two 9 inches round pans.
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Pour the batter in the pans.
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Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean if inserted in the middle of each cake.
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Let cool completely and prepare the cream cheese frosting.
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Put the cream cheese frosting ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.
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Mix until smooth. Set aside.
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Use a knife to cut the middle part of the cakes to make the surface even.
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Take one cake and spread the cream cheese frosting all over its surface.
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Crumble the cut parts of the cakes on top to avoid wasting them. Make sure to reserve a little bit of the crumbs to be used later (optional).
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Place the other cake upside down. Keep the smooth part on top.
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Spread the cream cheese frosting on top and all around the sides of the cakes.
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Sprinkle few cake crumbs on top to hide any imperfection of the cake (optional).
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Enjoy.