Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

| Photos by Koo Kai Siang

No, no, this isn't a recipe for Singapore's chai tow kway (although it would be interesting to do a recipe on that soon...). This is a recipe for a baked carrot cake-- oh so moist, lightly laced with spice and smothered in luscious cream cheese frosting. It's the only time I'll condone having nuts in my dessert.

Before we start off, here are a few tips that you may find helpful.

I couldn't find instructions online on how to achieve the "finely grated carrots" found in other carrot cake recipes/ videos, and spent forever trying to grate my carrots using a cheese grater which was kinda silly and produced something that resembled carrot mush instead. Don't be like me. Do this instead:

Cut your carrot in half, and cut the half-pieces in half again (see above pic). Use a fruit peeler to "peel" your carrots into thin strips. It may look a little fat, but trust me, they still work. Do not worry about your cake being like a carrot salad, these will soften and incorporate into your batter as they bake.

CARROT CAKE W CREAM CHEESE FROSTING RECIPE:

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

Dry Mix

2 3/4 cups Plain Flour, sifted

2 tsp Cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp Ginger powder (if you don't have this. replace with 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder)

2 1/4 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp Baking soda

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

50g finely chopped Walnuts (you can lightly toast them in the oven prior if you have time)

Wet Mix

6 Large Eggs

1 cup Caster Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

(While measuring the sugar in your measuring cup, use a fork to mix the caster sugar and brown sugar so that it forms an evenly-colored mixture)

450ml Vegetable oil

240g Carrots (after peeling and grating, the amount will be ~120-140g)

1/2 cup Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

- 110g Butter, softened, cut into cubes

- 375g Cream Cheese, room temperature, cut into cubes

- 2 1/2 cups Icing Sugar, sifted

- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract or lemon juice (optional)

CAKE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg C. Prepare three 8 inch round tins. Line bottom with baking paper. It is not necessary to grease the sides as it is quite a greasy cake.

2. In a large bowl, combine all six dry mix ingredients. I used a fork to toss them all together.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, crack in your six eggs and add in the sugar. Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on, beat the mixture on medium speed for about a minute.

4. Pour in vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 30 sec.

5. Add in grated carrots. Beat on low speed for another 30 sec.

6. Add in half of the dry mix. Beat on low speed until barely combined.

7. Add in second half of dry mix and beat on low speed until just combined.

8. Pour in half cup of milk and beat on low speed till just combined. Do not over beat the mixture!

8. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake in oven for 40min (I turned the temperature down to 165 deg C after the first 20 min as my oven usually over-heats).

9. Remove from oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let your cakes cool in their tins for about 10-15min before using a knife to loosen the sides from the tins. Remove cake from tins and leave on a wire rack to cool even further.

In the mean time, let's whip up some delicious cream cheese frosting!

FROSTING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed till creamy and slightly pale.

2. Add in cream cheese and beat on medium-high till fully combined with butter. Use a spatula to scrape down sides of the bowl as necessary.

3. Reduce speed to low and add in icing sugar in 3 batches, beating till well incorporated after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 30 sec till your frosting is light, fluffy and delicious.

p.s. Some people add in a tsp of vanilla extract or lemon juice to their cream cheese frosting for additional flavor. You can try this out too.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Once your cakes have cooled, slice of the top layer of each cake and trim the sides. I use a small dish to help me with this. It is easier to trim your cakes when they are cool as they are crumbly when warm. Keep some of your trimmings for decoration.

2. Spread your frosting evenly on top of the first cake and stack the second cake layer on top. Press down gently before spreading on the next layer of frosting. Repeat till you have your 3-layer carrot cake.

3. Spread a thin layer of frosting along the sides and top of your full cake to form a crumb-coat. Leave your cake to rest in the fridge for 30min for your crumb-coat to set. You are now ready to ice your cake!

4. Lather on your remaining cream cheese frosting till you're satisfied. For decoration, you can crumble your left over cake trimmings along the rim of your cake, or use left over walnuts or whatever your heart so desires.

There you have it! This carrot cake is best eaten at room temperature. If left in the fridge, microwave it for a few seconds before consumption.

Happy Baking!

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