Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
Warm spices, sweet frosting, bursts of coconut, what could be better? This moist and fluffy carrot cake is to die for. I am a firm believer that cream cheese frosting is superior, therefore the three layers of this cake allow you to get equal parts of frosting and cake in every bite!
Yields: 1 three layer cake
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, plus cooling
Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon of ground cloves
¾ teaspoon of kosher salt, plus more for the frosting
1 ½ cups of granulated sugar
¼ cup of packed light brown sugar
1 cup of canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 ½ cups of carrots, peeled and grated (about 4 large carrots)
½ cup of golden raisins, roughly chopped
16 ounces of cream cheese
½ cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, soften to room temperature
3 ½ cups of confectioners sugar
½ cup of unsweetened coconut chips
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325º F.
Generously butter and flour three 9 inch cake pans.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and soda, spices and salt.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugars, oil, eggs, and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla, until fully combined and sugar clumps disappear.
Fold your dry ingredients into the sugar and oil mixture. Then, fold in your grated carrots and chopped raisins.
Scoop the batter evenly among your three pans and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Place cake pans onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
For the cream cheese frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer until combined and creamy.
Meanwhile, ground your coconut chips in a food processor till they resemble a texture similar to sand. Set aside.
Slowly pour in your confectioners sugar until the frosting begins to form. Then, mix in the remaining 1 teaspoon of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and the coconut powder.
Place a large dollop of frosting on top of the first layer of cake, and spread the frosting evenly to coat it. Place the second layer on top and place another large dollop of frosting and spread it. Place your last cake layer on top and spread frosting around the entire cake (you may have some left over depending on how much frosting you like).
Store leftover cake in the fridge for up to 5 days.
