AliLarter.com

May 1, 2016

With Easter coming (not that I need an excuse…) I’ve had carrot cake on the brain.  But not just any carrot cake – the recipe I’ve been honing since my first scrumptious bite as a child.

I use a white whole wheat flour in my cake, which when laced into any molasses or brown sugar sweetened baked good makes for an earthier, more sophisticated flavor.  I balance this richer taste and texture by rejecting the often heavy and too-tangy tranditional Cream Cheese frosting, opting instead to fix my frosting with a combination of Cream Cheese and Mascarpone.  The Mascarpone brings a subtler, lighter, more directly sweet flavor that complements the spiciness of the fresh ginger and nutmeg that my recipe employs.  The combination of elements is nothing short of delectable.

Best part?  Because my carrot cake features such simple, whole ingredients – I also trade the usual canola oil for grapeseed oil – and is so much lighter than other recipes, you can smile from the first bite to the last, then keep smiling as you start your second piece.  Heck, whenever I make this – assuming any leftovers have survived – I end up becoming a dessert for breakfast girl for days after.  After all, it’s just carrots, right?

ALI’S CARROT CAKE

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup White Whole Wheat flour
1 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 ½ tsp. Flaked Sea Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground Ginger
dash of Nutmeg
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar
1 ¼ cups Grapeseed Oil
2 tsp. Grated Peeled Ginger
4 Eggs
3 cups Finely Grated Peeled Carrots
1 ½ cups Chopped Walnuts

 

Icing Ingredients:

8 oz. Mascarpone
5 oz. Cream Cheese
6 tbls. Softened Unsalted Butter
2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Maple Syrup
pinch Flake Sea Salt

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter 2 9-inch cake pans, then lay parchment inside and  butter and flour.  In a medium-sized bowl, mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and nutmeg.  In a separate bowl, mix the sugars, oil, and ginger and whisk in the eggs one at a time.  Add liquid mixture to flour mixture, and stir in carrots and walnuts.  Divide batter and bake until toothpick comes out clean – approximately 25 minutes.  Let rest for ten minutes, then flip onto racks and let cakes sit until completely cool.

For the icing, using a mixer beat mascarpone, cream cheese, and softened butter for about 3 minutes, until fluffy.  Then beat in the powdered sugar, and once incorporated flavor with maple syrup and sea salt, mixing until color and texture achieve consistency.

Ice top of one layer of cake with about 1/3 of icing mixture, add second layer, and cover entire cake with rest of icing – using about 1/3 on top, and the other 1/3 to cover sides.  Decorate with walnuts if desired.

Enjoy!

Makes: 1 cake

Total Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Total Cooking Time: 50 Minutes