This recipe was created as a mix of inspiration from watching the Great British Baking Show and My Favorite carrot cake recipe. I was inspired by the addition of fresh orange segments and fresh-squeezed orange juice to the cake mixture. The mixture of the spice and the brightness of the orange, it's the balance this Carrot Cake has been looking for its whole life, and it is beautifully delicious.
I love watching the Great British Baking Show over and over again, it always brings new inspiration. Recently I was re-watching Collection 3 on Netflix and baker Ian was making a giant carrot cake during the finale. His addition of orange to his cake intrigued me so much I thought I'd give it a try.
Preparing the Carrot Cake ingredients...
So I had to pull out my carrot cake recipe and toss one together. Now I do have to say I am not one to like raisins much, but the golden raisins and the pineapple in this cake are some of my favorite parts about it. With those fruits already existing in the cake, the orange was a welcome addition.
I like a really spicy carrot cake. The recipe I usually use is my own mash-up of a classic carrot only cake and a decadent spice cake. If you stripped everything out of this cake recipe and only made the base cake, adding only the spices in, you still have one of my very favorite cakes!
One key note on this cake is to be sure to soak the raisins in the juice from the fruit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for the cake. This helps to plump the raisins and to ensure that they don't draw too much moisture from the cake making it dry.
That said, if you soak the raisins and add the orange pieces and juice, it results in a beautifully well-balanced cake. It really is just right, I didn't know what I was missing all my life. You will be in love at first bite, I guarantee that you won't regret it!
I really love that this helps make the raisins so soft and tender that they almost disappear in the cake when you are eating it.
How to make Carrot Cake
When approaching this cake it is good to look at it like a simple butter cake at its core. If you stripped all the fruits, nuts, and spices out of it, it would be a yellow cake. But for me all the additions make it delicious, my dad even says it reminds him of a hummingbird cake with all the things I cram into this carrot cake.
The first thing you want to do is cream the butter and sugar together. Do this until it gets as pale as you can get it. It should take about 4 minutes. Then add the eggs one at a time.
When all the eggs have been worked in, beat the mixture for an additional 60 seconds to get a little more air in the batter. This is important because all the fruits and nuts will weigh it down, so now is the time to get the batter airy.
Next add the flour and sour cream. The flour will bring everything together and the sour cream will ensure the cake is very tender.
Now it is time for the fun part. Add in all the fruits, the nuts, the spices, and the carrots. Give it a good, but quick whip in the mixer, just until everything is mixed in. You don't want to overwork it so the cake does not get tough.
Place the batter in your prepared cake pan and bake until set.
After the cake has baked and fully cooled out of the baking tins, trim off the tops. I sometimes make the cake a day ahead of time and trim the tops off, then wrap and plastic wrap and store in the fridge until I am ready to use it or freeze for later. Trimming the tops is known as "torting" a cake in the culinary world.
Assembling the cake
Whip ya up a quick batch of cream cheese frosting and layer the cakes together with a generous helping on the middle of each layer.
Carrot Cake
This cake is a combo of inspiration from watching the Great British Bake Off and my favorite spice and carrot cake mixtures. It came out so heavenly and the orange mixed with the spices makes it a cake that you will want to eat EVERY DAY!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ½ cup Orange segments, diced
- ½ of an Orange Juiced
- ½ cup Crushed Pineapple, drained
- ½ cup Golden Raisins
- 2 ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon, ground
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 teaspoon Ginger, ground
- ½ teaspoon Allspice, ground
- ¼ teaspoon Cloves, ground
- 12 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar, tightly packed
- 3 lg Eggs, room temp
- 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ cup Sour Cream
- ¾ cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
- 2 cups Carrots, grated
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 10 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, room temp
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1, 8oz blocks Cream Cheese, room temp
- 1 teaspoons Vanilla Bean Paste, leave out if you don't have it
Instructions
For the cake:
- Position your oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6 inch cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and coating them with pan spray.
- Peel and segment ½ of an orange and juice the other half into a bowl. Add the pineapple and raisins to the bowl and stir to combine, let sit while you assemble the cake batter.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl and set aside.
- Beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
- Reduce the speed to low and add flour mixture and sour cream alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until batter is almost smooth but small clumps of flour remain. Mix in walnuts, orange, pineapple, raisins, and carrots until just combined. Remove from the mixer and fold with a spatula to evenly spread all the additions.
- Spoon batter evenly into pans, smoothing tops, then tap the pans once or twice on the counter to expel any air bubbles. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cool 10 minutes in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around the edge of pans if necessary, then tip the cakes out of their tins onto racks and turn right side up to cool completely.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and powdered sugar, adding in the sugar ½ cup at a time until it is all worked in. Add the cornstarch and cream cheese and beat at medium-high speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl 2-3 times. Blend at medium-high speed until frosting is smooth. Finish with the vanilla and refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembly and frosting the cake:
- Remove the top of each cake layer with a long serrated knife using a gentle sawing motion. Put 1 layer, cut side up, on a cake stand or large plate and spread with about ¾ cup of cream cheese frosting on top. Stack remaining cake layers, spreading about ¾ cup frosting on each layer and ending with top cake layer cut side down. Spread top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting and coat side of cake with toasted walnuts if desired, gently pressing to help them adhere. To make carrots, mix about ½ cup of frosting and dye it green with 4-6 drops of food coloring, and about 1 cup orange with 4 drops of yellow and 3 drops of red food coloring. Place in a pastry bag fitted with a number 2 tip for green and a number 8 tip for orange. Pipe carrots onto the sides or top of the cake using a sweeping motion to create elongated triangles finishing with a long tale. Top with green piping in an up and down motion to create a grassy top for each carrot.
Notes
Cake layers can be kept, wrapped individually in plastic wrap and placed in large sealed plastic bags, chilled 1 day or frozen 1 week. If frozen, thaw in bags at room temperature, about 2 hours.
Frosting can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature, then stir until smooth before using.
The cake can be assembled and frosted 8 hours ahead, then kept, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 1197Total Fat: 77gSaturated Fat: 42gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 28gCholesterol: 259mgSodium: 737mgCarbohydrates: 118gFiber: 5gSugar: 75gProtein: 14g
This is an estimated caloric value, actual numbers may differ based on the ingredients used.
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