Perfect Carrot Cake

Step 1

Wash and peal your carrots. Grate them using the medium-sized holes on a box grater. It should resemble very finely shredded cheese. Measure out 2 1/2 cups into a bowl and set aside.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to to 350F and grease 3 round 6″ cake pans or 2 or 3 round 8″ cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round sheet of parchment paper and, if you have them, wrap the pans with dampened cake sleeves.

Step 3

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Set aside.

Step 4

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugars.

Step 5

Once combined, mix in the eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt.

Step 6

Fold in your dry ingredients and just before it comes together, fold in the carrots as well.

Step 7

Evenly distribute your batter between the cake pans.

Step 8

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Step 9

Let the cakes cool in the pan for about 20 minutes then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool for another 20 minutes.

Step 10

Wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Chilling the layers makes it much easier to frost. You can also chill the cakes overnight and frost the next day.

Step 11

While the cake chills, make your cream cheese frosting. If it’s too thin, chill the frosting for about an hour to thicken.

Step 12

To assemble, level off the tops of each cake using a cake level. Then, spread a thin and even layer of frosting between each cake.

Step 13

Spread a very thin layer of frosting around the entire outside of the cake (also known as the crumb coat) and chill for 30 minutes.

Step 14

Apply a thick layer of frosting around the chilled cake and then spread it even. See my post on how to frost a layer cake for more details.

Step 15

With any remaining frosting, you can pipe swirls on top of the cake and/or add carrot decorations all around the outside. Separate a few spoonfuls of the frosting into two dishes. To one, add one to two drops of green gel food coloring and a tiny toothpick swatch of brown. To the other, add one to two drops of orange gel food coloring and a tiny toothpick swatch of brown.

Step 16

Transfer the colored frosting to two separate piping bags fitted with small around tips. Pipe tiny carrots all around the outside of the cake, followed by the green carrot stalks. Sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts and then chill the cake for an hour to set.

Step 17

Now slice and enjoy!