The Best Dang Carrot Cake

Have your cake and eat your vegetables, too!

This carrot cake is made in Bask and Gather circles at least once a quarter, and it disappears basically overnight. We love it because it’s not too sweet, perfectly spiced, topped with tangy cream cheese frosting and toasted pecans or walnuts. It’s the best dang carrot cake we’ve ever had, and to us, it tastes like spring!

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups flour 

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger (we love the tubes of fresh ginger found in most grocery store’s produce section) 

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon cloves 

• 1 cup granulated sugar 

• 2/3 cup brown sugar 

• 3/4 vegetable oil or olive oil 

• 1/2 cup applesauce

• 4 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 3 cups shredded carrots (NOT store bought pre-shredded carrots! They are too dry for this cake; use cheese grater to shred fresh carrots)

• 1 cup toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts for top of cake 

Frosting:

• 12 ounces cream cheese

• 3/4 cup butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 teaspoons honey 

• 5-6 cups powdered sugar (more if needed! the consistency of the frosting is up to you!)

Instructions:

Preheat to 350 and spray an 18 x 13 inch baking sheet with cooking spray (use parchment paper if you’d like)

In medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, cloves, and nutmeg until blended.

In large bowl whisk together granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add in oil, applesauce, ginger, eggs, and vanilla by hand (or mix in Kitchen Aid).

Add flour mixture to wet mixture and stir with spatula until just mixed. Add carrots and mix. Spread batter on baking sheet. (It will be thick!)

Bake 23-27 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool completely before frosting and adding pecans. If you’re extra like us, dye a bit of frosting orange and green so you can draw on lil carrots. Store in fridge. Eat your veggies.