If you have followed me for any amount of time, or read my Southern Sympathy cookbook, then you know I am not much of one for making layered, frosted cakes. I lack the patience or skill to make them look lovely and attractive and I may be thrilled with the taste, but very rarely with the appearance. So I stick to Bundt cakes and sheet cakes, or simple single layers like this. And I can say my life is no worse for it. I love the ratio or cake to frosting on a one layer like this. Lots of uninterrupted, tender cake and a lovely thick layer of frosting. I was a late convert to carrot cake, I imagine as a child I thought who wants a vegetable in cake? But now I really love it, in many forms, be it Carrot Ginger Bundt Cake, or a Carrot Coconut Cake, even Spiced Carrot Cake Bars. But I keep is simple here with the icing the embellishment. Just a hint of vanilla and a combo of spices that lifts the flavor subtly. Traditionally, carrot cake is swirled with cream cheese frosting, and you could certainly do that here, but browned butter is about my favorite thing in the world, so I love the nutty, buttery richness of this particular frosting. And you can decorate the top as much or as little as you like, from garish sprinkles, to candied carrots or candy easter eggs. Here, I used some edible easter basket grass, a chocolate bunny and some mini eggs. Again, cake decorating isn’t really in my skill set.
Grate the carrots freshly – it is tempting to buy a bag of shredded carrots I know – so they stay moist and supple. Those pre-grated ones dry out and get chewy. I am not readily one for nuts in cake, but you can add ½ cup chopped pecans if you really want to. I like the richness of cinnamon with the added mystery of nutmeg and clove, but you can leave those out if you prefer. And yes, this is basically as much frosting as cake. You can half the recipe if you must.
Ingredients
- For the Cake
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
¼ cup sour cream
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups grated carrots, about 4 large carrots, peeled
- For the Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
4 cups (1 pound box) confectioners’ sugar
Directions
- For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 or 10 -inch springform pan with cooking spray.
- Put the brown sugar and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can do it with a hand mixer) and beat until combined. Add the sour cream and beat for abou 60 seconds, until combined and creamy and thick, scraping the bowl once. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda, salt and spices and beat on low just until the dry ingredients are mostly incorporated. Scrape the bowl and add the carrots. Beat just until there are no dry ingredients visible. Use a spatula to give the batter a turn or two to evenly distribute the carrots. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the Frosting
- While the cake is baking, cut ½ cup (1 stick) butter into small pieces and place in a medium saucepan (light colored or stainless is best so you can see the butter as it browns). Heat over medium high heat, watching constantly, until the butter is melted. It will start to spit and hiss, then you will see brown speckles appear. Swirl the butter around to distribute the browned bits, and as soon as the butter has an even brown color and a nice nutty smell, pour it into a 2 cup glass measuring jug or a small bowl. Let cool to room temperature, at least an hour. Leave the other stick to soften to room temperature.
- When the cake has cooled, put the brown butter and softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk (or a hand mixer) and beat to combine. Add the vanilla and beat, then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, beating on medium low and scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat until smooth, increasing the speed when all the confectioners’ sugar is incorporated. Scoop the frosting onto the cake, then spread into an even, thick layer.
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