Orange Ginger Carrot Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Just a couple days away from Easter and I wanted to make sure you're covered with desserts. The strawberry cake from earlier this week would be a great option, but if you want to go the traditional route and make a carrot cake, you've got to try this one. It's the only carrot cake I'll eat. Why, you ask? Because there's no NUTS and no RAISINS, but plenty of flavor and texture thanks to candied ginger and orange zest.
The cake recipe comes from Sweetapolita, which is originally paired with a white chocolate frosting (super delish and I've done several times before). However, this time around, I thought I'd change things up and try the cake with the honey cream cheese frosting from my Honey Pear Cake. Great pairing!
Orange Ginger Carrot Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: 9" 2-layer cake or 6" 3-layer cake
Ingredients:
For the Cake (recipe source: Sweetapolita)
5 cups ( 1.25 L) grated carrots
1/2 cups (125 ml) finely chopped crystallized ginger or stem ginger in syrup
1 large orange
2 1/2 cups (625 ml) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
1 tsp (5 ml) ground ginger
1 cup (250 ml) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla
2/3 cup (150 ml) milk
For the Honey Cream Cheese Buttercream (adapted from The Cake Blog) 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 6-7 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted 5 tablespoons honey
Instructions:
For the Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or lightly oil two 9-inch round cake pans.
2. Grate carrots using a food processor. Measure out 5 cups. Finely chop ginger. Grate peel from orange. Set each aside separately. Place flour in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with baking powder, baking soda, salt and ginger. Stir until blended. Sprinkle in orange peel while stirring.
3. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar, then beat on medium for 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, then vanilla. Don't worry if it seems curdled. Beating on low, gradually add about a third of the flour mixture. Beat until just mixed, followed by half the milk. Repeat additions, ending with flour. Sprinkle chopped ginger and stir to distribute. Stir in carrots.
4. Divide batter between pans. Spread as evenly as possible to side of pans. To remove air pockets, bang pans on counter 5 to 6 times. Bake until centers seem set when lightly tapped, 30-35 minutes (might need to bake longer for the 6" cakes because they're thicker). Place on a baking rack to cool. After about 15 minutes, turn cakes out of pans and cool completely on racks. It's best to bake cakes a day ahead of icing and leave at room temperature overnight.
For the Honey and Cream Cheese Buttercream 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about three minutes. 2. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar on low speed until it is all combined. Increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes. 3. Mix in honey.