Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (NBR)

Carrot Cake

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound carrots (6 to 7 medium), peeled
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups safflower, canola, or vegetable oil [I used grapeseed]
• 1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans or walnuts

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softeened but still cool
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) confectioners' sugar

Mise en place.

Grating carrots in my new food processor.  When I tried using my old food processor after making mortadella, it just wouldn't budge.  I had never been able to full clean that machine and the mortadella was that last straw.  I'm not going to have the same problem with my new Cuisinart machine.

Process the sugars and egg together until frothy and combined.

Gradually add in the oil.

Combine the two until there are no more streaks of butter.  Spread into a 13 by 9 pan.

The pan I know is somewhat smaller than that.  I'll eventually buy one of these I swear.

Bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean.  After I cut it I realized that some areas had not baked fully.

Ingredients for the frosting.

The finished frosted cake.  Everyone thought it was delicious, and I liked how easy it was.

Sadly, I was doing a bit of overindulging that night and threw up much of this afterwards.  I hope to be back at eating carrot cake sometime in the future.  It's long been one of my favorite desserts even though I don't eat much dessert.